


Throw sadness to the wind, sorrow to the sky...

by ThreeMagpies



Category: Revolution (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Eventual Smut, Gen, Post-Blackout (Revolution), Slow Burn Charlie Matheson/Bass Monroe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-11-13 16:58:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 49,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11189436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThreeMagpies/pseuds/ThreeMagpies
Summary: A Revolution fic (Blackout AU): Sebastian (Bass) Monroe/Charlotte (Charlie) Matheson; Charloe. The Monroe Republic has fallen and President Bass Monroe escapes to a small island off the coast of New England. Charlie is searching for him so that she can get revenge for her family. When her small boat crashes and she washes up on Bass’s shore. Will he look after her? Will she let him? (based on a prompt on the Good Ship Charloe writers page)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Authors note: Thanks so much for having a look at this and I hope that you like it. It’s an early story that I posted quite a while ago on FF and thought I'd like to share it here so if you're kind enough to be reading it again (if you saw it there), you are awesome!! I also needed to work on something that didn't need totally new invention for a little while lol So I re-edited, did a bit of tidying up and here it is for the archive :) I’ll post it in blocks of a few chapters at a time so there won’t be too much waiting around for the rest of the story... The title comes from ‘Isle au Haut lullaby’ by Gordon Bok. Cheers, Magpie

She’d been a fool and now she was going to die. 

Charlie knew plenty about tracking, hell, she’d tracked Monroe all the way from New Vegas to his little hideaway island paradise off the coast of New England. 

But she only knew the basics about sailing. 

She knew enough to maintain a proper heading, keep her small, borrowed vessel rigged properly and making its steady way towards Isle au Haut - but she was realising now that she didn’t know nearly enough about the open sea and how easily it could turn from calm to deadly.

Things had started out ok, it had been a beautiful, clear sky dawn, the bay water clean and inviting and she’d been enjoying herself – especially with the prospect of finally catching up with, and disposing of, Sebastian Monroe, ex President of the ex Monroe Republic. The man, no, the dick, who gave the orders that resulted in the deaths of both her father and her brother and who had held her mother prisoner for years. 

She sighed, part of her concentrating on staying upright and keeping her hands on the wheel, another part watching her life flashing by. What had made Monroe’s betrayal of her family even worse was that he’d almost been one of them. He and Miles had been best friends since they were kids, they’d been soldiers together, hell they’d even babysat her and Danny when they were little, Miles had let that slip one night. But then he’d done things so awful that it made Miles want to kill him, although he hadn’t, not then or later at the Tower. Maybe he couldn’t do it.

So now it was up to her to finish the job. Miles and Grandpa Gene were focused on trying to keep her Mom sane. Which was partly why she’d left if she was honest, being around her mom while she agonised over ending the world again had become too hard to take. And Aaron wasn’t any help either, going on about fireflies and cicadas that no one else could see. It seemed like everyone she knew had lost track of what really mattered. Well she hadn’t. So it was her job to kill Monroe, and now, after months spent tracking him and so close she could almost taste him she was going to die. 

Shit.

About half a mile from the island he was hiding on the wind had suddenly picked up, the sky almost magically fast turning a frightening, angry, black and purple with clouds roiling, the wind shrieking and moaning and the sea rising up in huge, terrifying waves that threw her little, rusty boat around like it weighed nothing at all.

Now she was holding on as tight as she could to the wheel, trying to stay upright although her hands were so numb she could hardly feel them, the fingers blue with cold and almost useless. The old boat was taking on more and more water and she’d given up any attempt at steering. She was wet through, freezing cold, nauseous and having trouble catching her breath through the drenching salty spray. But every now and then when the boat was at the top of one of the huge swells she caught sight of the bumpy little strip of land that was her destination off to starboard and somehow, amazingly, the wind seemed to be blowing her closer and closer to it. 

The waves were still getting bigger though, the sky blacker and it was already taking all of her strength just to hang on. 

Then she saw a wave coming that dwarfed all the others, the line of white foam at the top stretching right up to meet the sky and there just was no way her little boat was going to survive that…

Then the boat rose up and up and she felt herself falling and falling and there was a tremendous sound that just filled everything and water was the whole world around her. 

And then there was just silence.

…………………………………….

Sebastian Monroe was doing his usual early morning sweep of the island and the surrounding waters of Penobscot Bay through the big telescope in the glass room on the top floor of his adopted home. He’d spotted the small craft and wondered vaguely who was fool enough to set sail when it was obvious to anyone with any sense that there was a nasty squall brewing. All the other fishing and patrol vessels were secured at their moorings or out in deep water where it was safer. 

There wasn’t much he could do about it though. Whoever it was they were on their own, the coastguard didn’t live here anymore. And if the idiot was headed here, well, he wished them luck, if they somehow made it through the storm in one piece he’d be waiting for them, and he could take care of himself.

The locals knew he lived on the island but they generally respected his wish to be alone and if they wondered why a man would choose to live without human company on the long abandoned luxury of Isle a haut, they hadn’t asked. He kept a low profile these days, no longer the polished President, his beard, moustache and tough, strong, dangerously capable appearance usually disguise enough to hide who he was and keep people away unless he wanted them close. He was also far enough away geographically from anyone who’d known him in his previous existence that recognition was a relatively minor risk. He was polite but aloof when he took his little boat over to the mainland to trade for something he couldn’t make or find, or if he felt like a woman’s company – and he never had trouble finding that. Or if he felt like a change from his own, home made whisky, or even if he felt like taking part in one of the fight nights that served as an outlet for those who couldn’t find peace and exhaustion enough in the endless hard work of simply getting by.

He was almost self-sufficient, growing or gathering most of his own food. There’d been several still flourishing gardens on the island, and he used what he found in the long abandoned homes for clothes and furniture. There was still a lot to choose from, isolation had kept the place relatively safe from looting. After the blackout the few people living on the island had either fled to the mainland or died of starvation, accident or suicide, leaving their possessions behind and the island to bask in its fading luxury, filled with ghosts and memories.

During his first weeks on the island, Bass had buried any remains he found in the graveyard behind the island’s tiny stone church, marking the graves with family names when he could work them out as a kind of thank you. It felt important to do that for them when he hadn’t been able to fix anything for anyone else. 

He looked for the little boat again, miraculously it was still afloat…

He’d made his home in a house at the top of one of the highest hills on the island, mainly because he had a bird’s eye view of most of the island and the waters around it from the room on the top floor, through an antique telescope left by the house’s former owner. 

One of his cats bumped it’s head against his ankle, purring. He reached down and stroked the soft fur, glad of the contact, and the reminder that some good things had survived. A few abandoned pets, mostly cats, had managed to thrive, and he’d discovered several little feral tribes of pigs and goats, descendants of escapees from someone’s hobby farm. Some of the cats had come along to the house to check out the new arrival and stayed and he’d re-domesticated, or at least come to an arrangement with, several of the goats, he’d convinced a few of the nannies to let him milk them and was working on making his own cheese. 

There were ponies too and deer of course. He’d also recently found an abandoned litter of piglets that he was raising up for breeding and food and was working on plans for a smokehouse. 

There was a lot of satisfaction in putting his wits and his hands to work. He felt healthy and if he couldn’t call what he felt happiness, he wasn’t sure what else it was…

He’d even found a tunnel leading from the cellar of the house to a hidden exit lower on the island and he used that to come and go and to hide his main living space from any casual visitors. He’d also collected any weapons he found, and there’d been more than a few, refurbishing them and making bullets and bladed weapons himself on a home made forge. He now had several weapons caches, including one in the tunnel, in case any of the bands of ex Militia, war tribes and others wandering unchecked around the country came calling. There were stories of marauders hunting up and down the coast like pirates and there was no one to stop them now. There was also the possibility that a bounty hunter could track him here too. He’d been carefully setting false trails just in case and had also started a couple of rumours that he was dead, hanged by a mob of angry ex Militia. People up here weren’t that interested in politics though, they were more concerned about the weather and the possibility of fallout spreading along the coast from Philly.

Then there were the new guys, the Patriots, who’d arrived after the bombs and who said they wanted to protect people and bring back the United States. But judging by the talk he heard around the place, what with the suspicious timing of their arrival, and their pretty talk of helping out when they could’ve come back anytime, it was plain to him and to plenty of others that they were just another group of marauders leaving just as many bodies behind them  
Bass was also pretty fucking sure that Randall Flynn was one of them, and that Flynn had sent the nukes after Rachael and Aaron so helpfully turned the power on in the Tower, although Bass took at least some of that blame on himself. After all he’d taken the asshole there. Delivered him to the door and walked him right in. He might just as well have been the one to push that button. 

He was better off out of it and away, and the world was better off without Sebastian Monroe complicating things. Better to let him fade away.

He’d arrived on Isle au Haut desperate and nearly broken, first by his brother’s fucking betrayal and then further by the bombs and the collapse of the Republic he’d worked so hard for. He’d come to this isolated place seeking a refuge from a world that had made it increasingly plain that it didn’t want him. He’d tried to hide in New Vegas but a couple of very lucky escapes from the ever growing numbers of Bounty hunters and the damn Patriots, proved once and for all that for him there was no place there or possibly anywhere on the mainland. 

Back in Vegas he’d once even thought he caught a glimpse of a face he knew, although how she’d found him he didn’t know. But seeing her had reminded him that he hadn’t always been alone, that he had family, and Miles was his brother still, somewhere, maybe still alive.

But the gorgeous blue eyes in that beautiful face had been full of so much hate and anger he’d left Charlotte and the hope of finding Miles again and maybe some kind of absolution behind him too.

And here, on this beautiful, forgotten island, he’d begun to find healing of a sort. He was able to start seeing things in some sort of perspective. His own sorry part in what had happened somehow becoming clearer until he realised that maybe it hadn’t been all his fault, that he had been as lost as everyone else in a world gone dark. And at least he’d tried to do something, he and Miles. and it had worked, for a while, before everything fell apart.

All in all though it was on the way to becoming a good life here, away from the world. But it was pretty fucking lonely. He wasn’t really made to be alone and he was anything but a monk. Ever since he saw her, Charlotte… his dreams were full of honey blond hair, blue eyes and soft, rounded flesh. There were no women like her around here though, the genetics seemed to favour brunette, which was probably a good thing for his cover of being a solitary man. But he’d caught himself more than a few times lately talking to the air and he was pretty damn sure that at least one of the cats had started talking back… It was getting pretty damn hard to listening to the fun the cat tribe seemed to have almost every night. 

Maybe it was time he made another trip to the mainland.

He checked the location of the boat again and sure enough, there it was, caught in the squall and being thrown around like a cork. He even caught glimpses of a small figure clinging desperately to the wheel. He pitied the poor idiot of a sailor but there was nothing he could do to help, his own little craft wouldn’t be any use at all in those seas. 

Then he watched as the monster wave gathered itself into a towering, inescapable wall of water and knew that there was no hope at all for the fragile little craft lying square in its path. 

Then the wave broke with a crash that thundered and screamed and motored its roaring way towards the shore and when he looked again the boat was gone.

……………………………………..

 

He raced down to the shore of course, couldn’t help himself, running with a torch down through the musty old smugglers tunnel to its rocky end point about a quarter mile above the shore, then clambering along the wet and slippery goat steep path down to the sheltered, half moon curve of the sandy beach, set snug in between two rocky heads, just to make sure, although he didn’t hold out much hope at finding anyone left alive. 

The boat had been driven quite close to shore by the storm though when the wave hit and even if the crew didn’t make it he might find something usable as salvage.

Bass couldn’t see anything much at first, the rain was still heavy when he climbed over the last of the piled rocks to get to the fringes of the sand, and he had to be careful of the storm surge waves driven up by the squall - but then, like someone pulling back a curtain, the weather cleared as suddenly as it had turned dark earlier. The rain stopped, waves calmed and he was suddenly bathed in sunlight from an almost clear, gorgeously blue sky, a few scudding, silvery clouds disappearing over the horizon.

He walked down to the water’s edge, clothes steaming in the sun and drying salty on his skin, his feet bare in the damp and giving sand, the footsteps behind him deep and crisp at first then softening at the edges, filling with cloudy, sandy water. The air was clear and had the wonderful tang of the sea, he took long breaths in just to taste it. Sea birds circled and swooped above his head, their haunting and raucous voices taken by the wind as they settled to land to search for edibles carried in to shore by the storm then rising again with their booty held in tight beaks, in a clatter of wings.

As he rounded a couple of rocks he saw something. Further along the beach and just above the water line there was a longish mound that looked like a lump of driftwood covered in seaweed but that he strongly suspected was something else. 

He sighed, it seemed like the sea had brought him another body to bury in the little churchyard. 

As he got closer he knew he was right. The body was lying face down, head slightly turned to the side away from him, a mass of long, matted, dirty blond and sea weed tangled hair covering her shoulders. It was obviously a young woman, the side of one of her breasts and a pale nipple were clearly visible, exposed by her slid sideways water black tank top and he felt a pang of sadness for her family and the fact that they might never know what happened to her…

Most of her face was hidden under an up-flung arm, the rest by her hair, her other arm and shoulder sunk into the sand by the pull and push of the waves.

Bass knelt down by her side, gently reaching under the heavy, sodden hair so that he could check for a pulse. There was no sign that she was breathing but when he placed his fingers where her delicate jaw met the strong lines of her neck there was a small, thready thump. Cautiously hopeful, he hooked a finger round, cleared the cold mouth of debris while she was on her side, then turned her onto her back, quickly placing a hand over her eyes and nose, the other at her chin, starting mouth to mouth, concentrating on just getting her to breathe, occasionally looking and checking the waves to make sure they didn’t get swamped but the sea was quiet now, wavelets innocently lapping at her feet.

He’d almost given up, her lips had been soft but cold and unresponsive under his for what seemed like hours, the skin around them icy against his cheek. But then there was a cough, a rough rattle in her chest and as he let her onto her side again, back towards the sand, a small flood of water and what was probably the remains of her breakfast came pouring out. He reached out a hand to hold her hair back and caught a glimpse of a neat nose and rounded cheek.

Then she collapsed back on the sand, limp and exhausted, eyes still closed, barely conscious and the skin he could see covered in bruises, cuts and scrapes. She was breathing though, alive against all the odds and, brushing back her hair, Bass was finally able to get a good look at her face. 

He sat back on his heels. Shit. he couldn’t fucking believe it, how the fuck had she found him? 

He looked again, just to make sure it really was her. It was, of course it was. Of all the fucking beaches on all the fucking islands in the whole fucking world and she washed up on his. 

He stared down at Charlotte Matheson and knew that his life had just changed forever. Again. 

And he knew, just knew, that someone or something really did have it in for Sebastian Monroe.

…………………………………………..


	2. The Albatross

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note: Thanks so much for coming back, hoping you like this next bit… Magpie

Bass carried Charlotte Matheson up and out of reach of the waves, put her down on the warm and quiet sands in the shelter of a couple of boulders and covered her with his jacket. She was pale and cold, her breathing had stabilised but the possibility of pneumonia, or worse was very real after all the seawater and associated crap that had gone into her lungs. 

He dropped down onto the sand close by and leaned back against one of the rocks. He remembered saying once that if he didn’t have bad luck he’d have none at all, and as he looked down at his latest little piece of bad luck he thought that he’d never said a truer word. 

He figured he had three choices and didn’t particularly like any of them.

One, he could go back up to his house and pretend he'd never found her. She wouldn’t survive the night and he could come back down tomorrow and there’d be just another body washed up by the sea to bury in the little churchyard.

He picked up a handful of sand and let it slide gently through his fingers. Yeah, right…

Two, he could take her to the mainland and leave her at the only medical clinic he knew of hereabouts and pay them to look after her. The trouble with that plan was that she obviously knew where he was – why else would she be here? Which meant he’d have to run again because damn her pretty blue eyes she was a Matheson through and through and she’d just come after him again probably to get back at him for Ben and her brother. Hell, and for what he did to her Mom – no matter that Miles had done it first. And then he’d have to let her kill him, or kill her himself. Which took him back to option one and avoid the whole damn thing. Fuck. 

Because for some reason he didn’t want to have to leave the island – yet - and he wasn’t so far gone that he particularly wanted to die either. But he was so damned tired of running and he really thought he’d gotten away from this all this crap. Maybe he should just let her do what she had to do and be done with it, done with everything. Maybe he did deserve it, maybe she was his punishment.

‘You’re a damn fool Monroe.‘ And now she had him talking to himself. Shit…

Then there was option three. He could look after her himself. And the downside to that one was that if he did his job properly she would eventually wake up feeling better and go back to doing whatever it was she’d come here to do and hey, Monroe, it’s back to option one part two again.

Unless he could somehow talk her round. Suggest a truce? Show her that he really wasn’t that man anymore. Or maybe she’d be grateful because he’d saved her life and just go away and leave him in peace. And maybe one of his piglets would sprout wings and fly…

And maybe he wasn’t dreaming of blazing blue eyes in that gorgeous face, framed in honey blond hair – or of her toned and curvy body. Fuck… or maybe he wasn’t thinking that she had to know where Miles was, that maybe he could get his brother back.

One thing he knew for sure was that she was trouble whatever maybe he decided on and he would have been so much better off if he’d never looked out his stupid telescope this morning.

He sighed, closing his eyes… 

But then she’d probably be dead now, and he found that he couldn’t bear to think of all that youth and beauty gone to the bottom of the sea. He opened his eyes again and looked at the girl lying on the sand and felt something he’d thought long dead inside him sit up and feel alive again. 

She was one hell of a tracker, resourceful and determined and it must have taken a wagon-load of guts to travel alone through some of the country she would have come through to find him. He couldn’t just leave her to die, and he wouldn’t give her to anyone else. She was Miles’ niece. He remembered meeting her when she was a little golden haired tomboy of a kid who’d followed him around like a puppy when he and Miles visited his brother and somehow found themselves babysitting the kids, Christ she’d even sat on his knee. He sighed again. and that made her family and him responsible for her – even if she didn’t want him to be.

He gazed up into the dazzlingly clear blue of the sky for a long moment. Option three it was then and damn the consequences, and he’d even give her one free chance to kill him, she’d earned it.

He leaned over, checking her breathing. That’s if she survived.

………………………………

Charlie woke up and tried to open her eyes but her eyelids wouldn’t work and they hurt, everything hurt. Like she’d been run over by a wagon. Make that several wagons. No a fucking wagon train.

She remembered a boat and a storm and huge waves, then nothing. But why was everything still swaying? It felt like someone was carrying her although she couldn’t seem to raise the energy to care much about that or anything else. She shrugged, or thought she did and let her head drop back against something deliciously warm and firm that moved softly against her cheek and smelled of salt and clean sweat. She snuggled closer, deciding that it didn’t matter, nothing mattered, not even Monroe. 

Her eyelids fluttered for a moment. That was stupid, of course Monroe mattered… Just not right now. 

She fell back into the soft dark of sleep.

……………………………….

Bass set up a sick bed for her in the top room of his house, so he could watch the sea and keep an eye on her at the same time. There was always the chance that someone, or maybe more than one someone had followed her, in fact it was probably inevitable. She’d have asked questions about him on the way here and some bounty hunters might be smart enough to put it all together, hell a lot of them were ex militia and he and Miles might even have trained them, so they’d know a few of his tricks. And both the Patriots and Texas were offering a whole lot of diamonds for Sebastian Monroe, alive and kicking, wanting to feed him to the lions in their fucking bread and circus games. 

He glanced over at her. 

She was still asleep, her hair dry now and spread out over the pillow like a damn golden cloud. Her colour had got better over the last few hours since he’d brought her up and her breathing and pulse were regular. It was a bit soon to be sure but he was pretty sure that she’d come through it ok. She’d opened her eyes a couple of times while he was getting her out of her sodden clothes and boots but only briefly and he didn’t think she’d been able to focus well enough to recognise him – at least she hadn’t shown any sign of it. 

He’d thought about leaving her clothes on, because when she woke up it wouldn’t help her peace of mind, or make her feel better about him if she knew that he’d seen her naked. But in the end he had to get them off her, she needed to get properly warm and he needed to clean and dress the cuts and bruises that pretty well covered her body. Her clothes were mostly salvageable – they just needed cleaning and a bit of mending, her boots and knife belt too.

Once he was able to check her over properly, most of her injuries needed nothing more than a wash and some of the salve he had on hand for emergencies, the salt water in the bay had cleaned her up pretty well already. He’d had to put a couple of stitches in a cut on her arm that had started bleeding again once she warmed up, and he was glad she’d stayed out of it for that. Her hands were rubbed raw and banged up too and they’d be pretty sore when she woke up. He’d also been worried about the possibility of concussion but her eyes looked clear, the pupils even when he checked. But she was lucky to be alive at all…

After cleaning her up he’d put her in one of the many never used, large, cotton t-shirts he’d found in the house. The previous owner must have collected them – or had a lot of grandchildren who thought he loved t-shirts. This one was a bright apple green and said ‘Captain’ on the front and ‘Merry Christmas’ on the back in cheerful red and white letters.

Bass was a good field medic, and he’d been grateful for that on more than one occasion, but never more than now. It helped him see her as a patient, not Charlotte, the woman whose blue eyed gaze and lovely body had been top billing in his fevered dreams for the last few months. The t-shirt helped a lot too because she was so small and it was so big that she looked about ten years old in it if you hadn’t already seen what was underneath. He smiled ruefully as he tucked a blanket over her and checked her pulse again. 

His mind kept replaying the image of small, beautiful breasts above a neat waist, lush hips and long, slim legs.

Shit… 

…………………………………….

The hours until dark were spent scanning the bay for strange boats and watching Charlotte as she slept. He’d made the trip down to the kitchen to get some food together, do some other chores and milk a couple of the goats, mixing some of the milk with leftover scraps for the piglets. The cats usually took care of themselves with rats, mice and rabbits more than plentiful on the island, but he left them a bowl of milk and a bit of food too.

When he got back after one trip downstairs with a large bowl of stew, a fresh jug of water and a couple of mugs of heated goats milk sweetened with some wild honey balanced carefully on a tray, he found a couple of the half-grown kittens had found their way up too and were twined on the end of Charlotte’s bed in a sinuous pile of black, white and ginger fur. As he got close, twin pairs of round, vividly green eyes in small heart shaped faces turned towards him, blinking sleepily. 

‘Hey there little guys.’ He kept his voice low, not wanting them jumping around and disturbing her. But they yawned and settled back to sleep. He smiled, these two in particular had kind of adopted him – or more likely his goat’s milk and occasional roast chicken. 

He did another sweep of the bay while he ate his stew but the only boats out were ones he recognised as local and none of them came anywhere near the island, and as the sun set and the light went they all started heading into safe harbour for the night. He didn’t light any lamps, it’d be like starting up the island lighthouse and visible for miles around, so he did a final check of the bay by moonlight then settled in for the night on a leather recliner he’d hauled upstairs. He glanced across at Charlotte. It felt strange having another person nearby and it’d been a very long time since he’d simply shared sleeping space with someone else, especially a woman.

She was asleep, her breathing even and deep. She’d shifted onto her side and a strand of her hair was moving gently with each breath and she looked peaceful, relaxed…

He stretched his legs out and sighed. Sooner or later she was going to wake up and he needed to work out what he was going to say. 

He studied her face. Relaxed in sleep there was little physical resemblance to Rachael, except for the colouring of course, although to his way of thinking Charlotte’s eyes were a warm, passionate blue, not like Rachael’s icy stare, and her hair was a warm, honey blonde, not the paler cream of her mother’s. And from what he remembered of Ben she wasn’t a lot like him either. There was something in the shape of her face that reminded him a whole hell of a lot of Miles though, but then he was her uncle… but whoever she looked like, it was no wonder she’d tracked him across the map when she had Rachael’s pig headed stubbornness – and smarts - as well as the Matheson will to win.

He sat back in his chair, sipping his milk. The cats were purring and the rumbling sound gently filled the room. The full moon was shining in through the picture windows that wrapped around the hexagonal room and the stars were dancing their ageless dance with the small clouds that raced across the sky…

He let himself relax a little, maybe no one had followed her? Yeah, right. He wasn’t that lucky. But whoever it was wouldn’t be able to get anyone local to set sail at night, no matter how much they paid them. There was a lighthouse on the island for a very good reason, the rocks and sandbanks in the surrounding waters were treacherous and the locals knew to treat them with respect. They’d sail at dawn, tomorrow or the next day or the day after that, but he knew they were coming. There was no doubt of it.

Bass leaned down and poured the remainder of his milk into a bowl for the kittens. If everything went to hell when Charlotte woke up, then at least the cats would find it.

……………………………………..

He must have dropped off to sleep because the rustle of fabric and creak of the day bed as her body moved against it woke him. He stayed absolutely still, as though he was still asleep but was instantly alert, an ability honed to perfection over the years. Then he cracked an eyelid open a fraction and saw her, sitting up on the bed, outlined by the bright moonlight coming in from the other side of the room now, her hair in a wild tangle around her shoulders. 

He must have slept for hours damn it. 

She was looking around, frowning, her eyes puzzled. 

Then the small ginger cat calmly untangled itself from its black and white companion, stood up, stretched its long, slim body out, front then back and stepped forward towards her, the small head and long tail imperiously high. It made a small sound of enquiry, almost a chirp.

She looked down at it, lips curved in a soft smile, lifting a hand out for it to sniff but the little creature turned in a quick and almost impossibly graceful arc, jumped off the bed, onto the floor and down the stairs, its black and white friend flowing off the bed and silently following.

Bass didn’t know whether to say anything or just keep quiet. Fuck, he didn’t know what he could – or should - say to her so he kept his eyes nearly closed like a damn coward, hoping that she’d go back to sleep, that he could somehow put this off.

‘Monroe… Is that you?’ her voice was hoarse, cracked and she cleared her throat.

Damn. He opened his eyes and sat up, swinging his feet off the ottoman, unable to hold back a yawn. ‘Hello Charlotte. How are you feeling?’

‘Like I was rolled on by a horse.’ She started to pull back the blankets, one foot and a long, slim calf reaching for the floor.

‘Hey, take it easy’ he picked up the mug and held it out to her ‘You nearly drowned. Here, drink. You need to get the sea out of your system.’

Her eyes fluttered shut and she swayed, still sitting on the side of the bed, one hand holding her up, the other going to her stomach. ’Ooh…’ 

He put the mug down again and reached for the bucket he’d put near the bed just in case, then leaned forward to hand it to her along with one of the small towels he’d also had on standby. ‘Salt water’s a bitch if you swallow enough of it. You’re lucky it stayed down this long.’

She groaned and took the bucket, cradling it to her chest. Then she threw up.

He waited till it seemed like she’d finished then quietly reached for the bucket, setting it down near the end of the bed. He was pretty sure she’d need it again.   
She wiped her mouth with the towel then sank back onto the bed, closing her eyes. ‘Don’t think this changes anything, Monroe.’ She pulled the blankets back up, shivering. 

Then for a moment she opened her eyes and looked straight at him, and damn it she made every nerve in his body sing her name. 

’I’m still going to kill you,’ she winced and closed her eyes again. ’As soon as I can stand up.’

He grinned. That had gone a hell of a lot better than he expected. 

……………………………………………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: This is a shorter chapter but it felt like a good place to pause… All the best and thanks again for reading, Magpie


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note: Thank you for coming back!! :) cheers, Magpie

Bass dozed in his chair, waking himself at regular intervals with the ease of long practice to do another sweep of the waters around the island. His rescued mermaid had slept for hours although he was sure he’d felt her eyes on him a couple of times during the night. She hadn’t said anything though and she hadn't had to throw up again – lucky for her. 

The cats had come back after a couple of hours for the milk which they lapped up with a delicate efficiency. After they finished, they wound themselves around his ankles a few times then jumped back on the end of the bed and curled themselves into a comfortable pile around Charlotte’s feet. He’d also made another quick trip downstairs to wash her clothes, setting them out over a couple of chairs to dry in front of the cooking range in the kitchen before returning to the top room to take up some clean water, a couple of apples and a few pieces of jerky in case she woke up hungry. There was still some stew in the pot but he figured her stomach would still be a bit too touchy for that.

As dawn approached he watched the regular fishing boats head out on their usual routes to the fishing grounds. He knew most of them by sight now – and their crews were a good lot for the most part, honest, strong and hardy men and women, used to the often dangerous but rewarding life on and by the sea. They’d adapted pretty well to a world without power and the town was part of a thriving trade network of coastal and inland communities. Nothing he saw seemed out of the ordinary though and he dozed off again.

‘Why did you do it?’ her voice broke through the haze of sleep.

He was instantly awake. 

She was still lying on the bed, leaning up on her elbow towards him, her hair tangled and catching the early light on glinting strands and the tangled elf knots that clung around her shoulders. She was staring at him, her eyes a shadowed, misty blue, and there was a little puzzled frown playing between her brows.

He swallowed and sat up. She was beautiful, even battered and bruised, her lips and cheeks faintly pink, the green of the t-shirt looking incongruously bright and garish against her tanned skin. Tearing his eyes away from her, he reached down and poured two cups of water, handing her one. He took a deep swallow from the other, then shrugged and swung his feet down onto the floor from the footrest. ‘For Miles… and maybe your Mom, but mostly for you I guess. I figured that you’d come all this way to see me, it wouldn’t be polite to just leave you on the beach.’ His lips curved in an almost smile.

She ignored that, took a careful sip of water and looked down at the t-shirt. ‘And did you put me in this thing?’

‘Yeah, but don’t worry, I was a complete gentleman the whole time.’ He brought a hand up and rubbed his eyes, suddenly tired. ’I didn’t have a choice, Charlotte, your arm needed stitches and I had to get you warm and dry, you were hypothermic.’

Charlie gingerly lifted the sleeve up over her right bicep and peeled back the loose bandage wrapped around it. Underneath was a jagged scrape with a long jagged cut at the centre, still seeping a little around two neat black sutures. ‘These?’ 

Bass leaned forward to examine the cut. ‘Yeah, they’re looking ok, but I’ll need to clean it again tomorrow. I washed your clothes too, and I’ve got sewing stuff downstairs to fix the holes.’ He stretched, yawned then sat up straight and rolled his shoulders to loosen them up. ’Not sure everything’s salvageable but I’m pretty sure there are some things downstairs that’ll fit you, and your boots should be ok, I’ve rubbed them over with beeswax and they’re drying out on the stove’.

She was looking at him as though she’d never seen him before. ’Thanks. I guess. I… how did you know it was me in the boat?’

He shrugged again and tipped his head towards the telescope. ‘I didn’t. All I knew was that some idiot was sailing straight into bad weather.’ 

Charlie winced, ‘I didn’t know about that, it came up so fast.’ 

He nodded, ’It can do that around here, someone should’ve warned you.’ He had a drink, ‘Anyway saw the boat go under and went down to the beach to see if anything had come in on the tide.’ An eyebrow lifted and his mouth twisted in a grin loaded with irony. ’I certainly didn’t expect to find you lying there all banged up and nearly dead.’ He couldn’t help it, his eyes drifted to her mouth, remembering their cold softness under his and the desperate race to push breath and warm life back into her.

She leaned back against the pillows, pressed a hand against her mouth, then looked over at him, a blush staining her cheeks. She ran her tongue over her lips as though she could taste him there still. ‘How long was I out?’

He thought back. ‘Nearly a full day. How long have you been tracking me Charlotte?’

She looked away, ’I met this guy, the other side of New Vegas, he told me he’d seen you. I tracked you there but some bounty hunters got to you first, then you somehow stole their wagon and got away.’ She met his eyes, hers the blazing, angry blue of his memory.’ I nearly had you there Monroe, I had you in my sights and took the shot but those bastards ruined everything.’ She grinned, a shark’s grin, ‘but the wagon made you easy to track…’

He laughed, genuinely amused, teeth white, eyes bright blue and crinkled at the corners, making his already handsome face look younger and strangely carefree. ’I thought it was you. I saw you running after the wagon.’ The laugh turned into an admiring grin. ‘Kid, maybe you think you’re running away from your Mom, but you’re a hell of a lot like her. I thought you were more like Miles.’ He shook his head, ‘but he’s just stubborn…and you… well you’re stubborn and pig headed and you never know when to give up, and hey, that’s Rachael to a T.’ 

Her eyes narrowed and her full lips tightened into an angry line that was all Matheson. ‘First off, Monroe, I’m nothing like my mom, nothing like her. I’d never, ever, leave my…’ Her voice trailed off and two red spots of colour rose on her cheeks. She put the beaker of water down on the table with a thump. ‘I’m nothing like her.’

The two cats raised their heads, their green gazes suddenly alert. 

Charlie took a breath, and calmed herself down a little, ‘and I’m not a kid.’ 

The cats settled again but their eyes stayed fixed on her.

Bass looked her up and down, then his eyes met hers again, the pupils blowing out a little as he remembered the look and feel of the very adult body under that ridiculous tee and an eyebrow rose a little. ‘No, you’re not. I’m sorry Charlotte, I shouldn't have said that.’ 

The colour in her cheeks spread more under his gaze and her eyes slid away from his. 

The taut lines of his face softened. ’And I’m sorry for what I said about your mom, I didn’t know you felt that way about her…’

Charlie didn’t say anything, she hadn’t actually realised until that moment that she felt like that about her mom either. No one had compared her to her mom before, that she could remember anyway and her dad hadn’t even really mentioned her mom except as a warning about what could happen on the road. And as for Miles? Miles didn’t talk about anyone really, unless he had to, and hadn’t her Grandpa said she was the spitting image of her Gran? 

She was also still trying to get her heartbeat under control after seeing that look in his eyes, still trying to work out how to feel about this… weird situation. 

Sebastian Monroe had saved her life. And had he really given her mouth-to-mouth? Her lips tingled and the heat rose in her cheeks. The kiss of life - from Monroe – and if that wasn’t ironic she didn’t know what was. Whatever. If he hadn’t found her she’d be dead now. So she owed him, but he owed her too, for so many things. 

Not the least of which was making her walk halfway across the map to find him.

Needing something else to focus on she looked down at herself. Her arms were covered in scrapes and bruises, the worst on her bicep which was decorated in vivid red, blue and purple. Her hands were incredibly sore, fingers tight and stiff, fingernails torn and ragged. the skin of her palms abraded and an angry, painful red. She remembered trying to hold onto the wheel of the boat, trying to steer the little craft through the huge seas, the wood and metal of the wheel as harsh as coarse sandpaper on her skin… She didn't scare easily but it had been terrifying, 

Her legs felt ok as long as she didn’t move them too much; the cuts and grazes on them weren't too bad thanks to her jeans, and were soothed by the smooth sheets he’d given her. She felt under the covers and the awful – but thankfully clean - t-shirt and realised she wasn’t wearing anything underneath it. Which meant that Monroe had seen her…

She looked up at him as the realisation hit her.   
He was watching her calmly, waiting, his curls and scruff golden at the edges and his eyes a bright, sunlit blue. 

‘You saw me naked…’

His lips curved in a tiny smile. ’Didn’t have much choice, your underpants and bra were shredded anyway and I figured you’d rather have me see you naked than get pneumonia.’ He shrugged ‘Don’t worry about it, Charlotte, it didn’t mean anything.’

Now why did her stomach do a flip and disappointment flatten her heart when he said that? He was… Monroe, and it shouldn’t matter, should it?

He got up from the chair, looming over her, tall and disturbingly attractive in his old jeans, worn tee and rumpled leather jacket. ‘If it makes you feel any better, I’m a soldier, Charlie, I also trained as a medic and I’ve had a hell of a lot of field experience. I’ve probably seen more naked bodies than you’ve had rabbit dinners,’ the smile widened into a grin. ’And no one’s complained yet.’ 

She couldn’t take her eyes off him, her belly tight, confusion as well as a dry throat making her voice hoarse. ’I’m not complaining, it’s just a lot to get used to…’

He turned to the telescope to do another sweep. ‘Forget about it, now try to relax and eat something.’ His hands were busy adjusting the sights as he looked through the ‘scope. ‘Play with the kittens, get better. You can think about killing me again when it’ll be a fairer fight.’ He glanced back at her with another of those infuriatingly likeable grins. ‘You could always start planning how you’re going to do it.’

He turned back to the telescope…

She stared. This Monroe wasn’t what she’d expected. it was like the General Monroe she’d met in Philly and who’d saved her life in the Tower had been replaced by someone else, someone who was much more… human? Someone disturbingly attractive, who passed her a bucket to be sick in and didn’t seem phased at all by someone puking in front of him. And he liked cats too? Damn. It shouldn't mean anything that she was naked and in a bed near him, except it did… 

But maybe this was the Monroe who used to be Miles’ best friend? She’d wondered about that, wondered how and why Miles could have been friends for so long with someone like General Monroe. She decided to ask him. ’You’re different than before, in Philly. What happened? What are you doing here?’

He let the telescope go and took a deep breath, his shoulders slumping a little. ’I was trying to leave all the shit behind me, find somewhere to just…live I guess.’ He turned to her, his eyes distant, almost resigned as he looked past her and out the window at the ocean and the sky. ’I should have known that people like me aren’t allowed to do that.’ His head rose as he followed the flight of a single seagull soaring and wheeling above the waves, then he looked at her. ’You found me, and today, tomorrow or someday very soon bounty hunters or the Patriots or someone else who wants the reward for bringing in Sebastian Monroe will follow your trail here and I’ll have to fight again.’ 

Charlie stared back, everything she’d lived for, everything she’d thought she wanted was being turned on its head, he wasn’t supposed to be like this, she wasn’t supposed to care what happened to him. He was the enemy, wasn’t he?

He leaned closer, ’So you can try to kill me if you want, I’ll even give you one free shot, I guess I owe you that, but then you have to go Charlie. You have to leave this place as soon as you can because if you stay too long, they’ll find you too and I might not be able to protect you.’ 

‘Protect me?’

His eyes were the intense blue of the sky behind him through the window and they fixed on hers like twin swords. ‘Yeah, I promised your mom back in the Tower that I’d save you and I did, twice now, but if it’s the Patriots who come and they get through me, they’ll conscript you and turn you into one of their zombies, and if its bounty hunters or some other trash they’ll probably just rape and kill you if you can’t get them first.’

Charlie stared at him. He had saved her, that blue eyed, smug ‘a thank you would be nice’ was still a raging place in her memory. ‘But if you're so sure they’re coming why don’t you just leave too?’ She wanted, needed to know, despite everything.

His eyes hardened. ’I’m tired of running, Charlotte. These Patriot guys are bad news for all of us, and they dropped the bombs. I’m sure of it.’ He nodded and sat up straight, lips curved in a fierce grin. ’I figure this is as good a place to make a stand as any and I’ve got a few little surprises dotted around the island. I figure I can take care of quite a few of the bastards before they get anywhere near me, and if I survive after that? Well, I’ll keep on fighting them as long as they keep coming,’ He leaned closer again, ‘but it’s my fight, not yours.’

Charlie didn’t know what to think. He had saved her, and even though she should be glad at the thought of him dead she didn’t like the idea of him fighting all alone against who knew how many. ‘You’re that sure they’re coming?’

He nodded. ’I’d stake the sixty diamonds they’ve got on my head that they’re on their way here right now.’ His eyes fixed on hers again. ‘Which is why I want to get you out of here as soon as you can walk. I’ve got some friends on the mainland you can stay with until you’re ready to travel.’ His mouth softened a little, ’I’d suggest you go back to Miles, to your family but that’s up to you. As you said, you’re not a kid anymore.’

Charlie felt her heart do that funny flip again. He wanted her to go. He had been her mission for so long and she’d thought about nothing else but killing him and now, just when she had the chance to do just that, she didn’t want to do it. She didn’t want him dead, she wanted… what? She was suddenly very tired. ‘I can’t think about it right now, Monroe.’

He nodded again, ‘take it easy, rest, I’ll wake you later.’

She didn’t have a choice really, her body was screaming exhaustion, so she lay back down against the softness of the pillows, a luxury she’d nearly forgotten and closed her eyes, feeling the air currents shift as he moved away from her. Then she fell into sleep.

…………………………………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Next chapter up soon! hope you’re enjoying it so far. Cheers, Magpie


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note, Hey, thanks again!! I'm working on editing the rest as we speak so the rest will be up soon - I'm about ready to work on my other stories again too, I need to finish one and get to the action in another but my muse really wanted to spend some time here on the island again with Bass and Charlie... so... anyway, hope to see you again soon!! xx Magpie

Charlie woke with a start, not quite realising where she was for a moment. Then she remembered…everything. She’d found Sebastian Monroe, but instead of killing him as she’d planned, he’d saved her from drowning and looked after her like he actually cared. Shit.

She looked around. Monroe was gone, so were the cats and the room was filled with the long shadows and warm, fading light of sunset and she must have slept for hours because she could have sworn there’d been a dawn in there somewhere. 

She sat up cautiously, still sore but at least she could move. She checked her arm. He must have cleaned the wound again while she slept because there was a real, creamy white pre-blackout bandage wrapped around it - and again even though the injury felt tight and stung, she could move her arm ok, enough to load her bow anyway - if she still had one. The fact that she’d lost her bow and her pack with her favourite knives and traps as well as all the little, stupid but precious things she’d collected on her journeys hit her like a stone. The old Chicago Bulls penknife Miles had given her, the compass Aaron had insisted she take along, even though she never needed one, all gone…

Damn it. She wouldn't cry.

There was a bundle at the end of the bed and she could see her own jeans there folded neatly as well as another, strange pair and a couple of good shirts, ditto tanks and some assorted underwear and socks. She looked closer, sorting through them. The bras were her size and the panties were right too. She was impressed but not too surprised, she’d heard the rumours about Monroe and women, and she’d watched that blond in New Vegas all over him in the fight tent. Not that she blamed her, he could really fight, and as a bonus he’d looked great, all golden skin, toned muscle and handsome as all get out. Shit. If he hadn’t been Sebastian Monroe she might even have made a play for him herself. 

She shook that thought away and eased herself out of bed. Standing up was a bit of a challenge at first but a few careful stretches and she was good to go…

He’d left her a cake of soap and some water in a big bowl as well as another, empty bucket with a towel over it. and she used both to freshen up before getting dressed, enjoying the feel of underwear that fitted and wasn’t full of holes, pulling the tight jeans carefully up over the abused skin of her legs. She chose a dark blue tank and matching check shirt and put them on, leaving the shirt unbuttoned. Clean, and what looked like new socks were another incredible luxury, then her boots, which seemed to have survived their dunking with little damage. In fact Monroe had done something to the leather that made it softer and more supple than before it got wet, and that impressed even her more than his guessing her cup size. 

She felt her hair, it was thick with salt spray and felt course and stiff under her fingers. There was nothing she could do about that at the moment though. She caught it back in a rough knot at the base of her neck.

Her stomach rumbling, she headed cautiously down the spiral staircase hanging on to the banister, the carved wood smooth on the storm ravaged skin of her palms, carrying the bucket to empty it and following a delicious smell coming from somewhere downstairs. She was definitely feeling better though, and the smell of food was making her mouth water. She couldn’t actually remember her last good meal, too busy tracking Monroe to stop anywhere for long. There’d been a bar in a creepy little town. Pottsboro? They'd advertised meals but the place had looked way rough, and the guy who tended bar had been a little too eager for her to stay so she’d reined in her stupid and her growling belly and left. After that she’d mostly lived on what she caught for herself. To say she was looking forward to something different was a raging understatement and her nose was telling her there was something seriously good happening down there.

If she was honest though, she wanted to see him too. She’d woken up through the night and each time she had he’d been sitting there, on watch. It had been the first time she’d really felt safe in months… which was totally ironic given who he was, but it was true. 

She kept going down the stairs, making sure she didn’t spill anything from the bucket, the house was comfortable, homely and sparkling clean, she didn’t want to spoil it.

The stairs were well lit by oil lamps, some hanging from the rail of the banister and others set into the walls and as she moved down she passed shadowy, framed pictures on the walls, mostly nautical scenes, of ships on heaving seas and people in strange uniforms and antique dresses waving at unseen loved ones on shore. 

Charlie liked the house, she could understand why Monroe chose it, and it seemed to fit him somehow, at least it fitted the man he seemed to be now. 

At the bottom of the first flight of stairs, she came to a generous landing and hall, all cream walls and limed wooden trim, with several doors opening off it, to bedrooms maybe? All shut at the moment though but as the wonderful smell was coming from further downstairs she kept going down. At ground level, there was another large space, a boot and coat room with the main door leading off it in front of her. There was a large lounge area with a huge open fireplace to her right and a heavy, wooden panelled door, standing slightly ajar on her left which she guessed was to the kitchen because the smell of cooking wafting out of it was sweeping her senses and making her mouth water…

She left the bucket near the door to the outside, then came back to the kitchen, pushed the door open, started down the single step leading into the room then stopped dead in her tracks, breath catching in her throat.

Monroe stood in a large tub in the far corner of the room, his back to her, everything below his knees hidden by the sides of the tub, but everything else gleaming in the lamplight like something out of one of her wilder dreams. Charlie stood and admired the view for a long, long moment without feeling remotely guilty because hadn’t he seen her naked? It was only fair that she see him naked too. 

Besides, she couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away.

He was humming a song she didn’t know while he washed himself with a cloth, soapy water streaming down his body in rivulets that her eyes followed as though they were magnets. He was tall, strongly muscled but not heavy and his skin was smooth, tanned, streaked with scars and dotted with tattoos. She watched as his strong hands with their long fingers swept the cloth along one arm then the other, leaving soap bubbles behind that shimmered and quivered on his skin. The muscles of his back rippled as he moved making the tattoos dance although she couldn’t quite make out what they were, damn it and the tight muscles of his butt and thighs clenched and unclenched as he moved. She found herself studying him, enjoying the rhythm of his movements, the sheer, masculine beauty…

He brought a foot up to rest on the side of the tub and she saw shadowy glimpses of his cock and balls hanging like heavy, ripe fruit between his legs as he worked the cloth down his leg. There was a moment’s hesitation then, still humming, he casually put the leg down, got his balance and faster than she would have believed possible grabbed a pistol from a shelf near his head and swung around, the water in the tub splashing up around his knees with the speed of his turn and suddenly she was looking straight into the barrel of his pistol.

He smiled, his eyes gleaming in the shadows between the pooled light of the kitchen lamps, ’Hello Charlotte,’ he kept the gun trained on her. ’If you’re going to kill me, d’you think I could get dressed first?’ 

Charlie was still a little dazed at finding Monroe in all his glory. Jeff had been built, and from what she’d seen so was Jason, but neither of them were anywhere near as toned and muscular as Monroe. The man just rippled with muscle and the light made his wet flesh glimmer and shine in all the right places, and as for the rest? Her eyes kept straying downwards despite her best efforts at trying to keep them at sea level.

She held her hands out and up anyway to show him she was unarmed. ’I…’ she cleared her throat, trying to keep her eyes under control and only just succeeding because, fuck, he had a great smile, and she could still see the rest of him in her peripheral vision. ’You can call me Charlie, and I didn’t come to kill you, I smelled something really good and got hungry.’ She realised how that might sound way too late and tried again. ‘I mean… something smelled really good down here so I came down to have a look.’ Shit, that was even worse; Monroe must think she’d never seen a man before. She was rambling like a dumbstruck virgin.

He chuckled and put the gun back on its shelf. ’Must be the stew. It’s not quite ready yet, I was going to bring some up to you later.’ He stepped out of the tub onto a towel laid out on the slate floor, not bothering to cover up, just reaching for another towel hanging on a hook near the shelf and lazily drying the back of his neck and one shoulder. The movement did very interesting things to the rest of him. 

As he obviously didn’t mind her looking Charlie let her gaze drop southwards. His large and impressively thick cock in its nest of dark golden hair bobbed slightly and swelled under her gaze, heading steadily upwards. 

He gave a sort of choked off laugh and brought the towel around to dry his legs, half obscuring her view. ‘Charlie, if you keep looking at me like that I’m going to find it really hard to concentrate on finishing the stew.’

Charlie was enjoying herself. Maybe it was partly because she was feeling better, thanks mostly to him, but her feelings for Monroe seemed to have taken a turn into something she wasn’t really able to name at the moment. She didn’t want to kill him right now anyway. She did want to jump his bones though. Very, very much, in fact the little devil on her shoulder was jumping up and down and yelling there was absolutely no reason not to, because, hey, they were alone on an island, and anyone who might want to judge was too far away to worry about. And besides, neither she nor Monroe would probably live long enough to regret anything anyway if what he’d said was true.

So she tipped her head and gave him a dimpled grin, putting a challenge in her eyes. ’Are you saying that you want me to stop looking, Monroe?’

His smile deepened and so did his voice. He shook his head. ’No… but I am saying that if you want to stop at looking you might want to say so now.’

She took another step into the room, ’you looked at me, seems fair that I get to look at you.’

He reached out and hung the towel back on its hook, keeping his eyes fixed on her then held his hands out to the sides as she kept walking slowly towards him. ’Can’t argue with that.’

Her eyes swept over him, pupils blowing out until the blue turned black. ’I hated you so much, Monroe, all I wanted to do was kill you, but now? I don’t know…’ she stopped just out of touching distance and looked up at his face. ‘You don’t seem like that much of a monster up close.’ 

He tensed, waiting, ‘You can call me Bass… I’ve done bad things, good things too, but I’m just a man, Charlotte.’ 

The moustache and the scruff of his beard framed the firm lines of his jaw, his hair was all damp, tousled curls that made her fingers ache to through them. His eyes were blue, blown out to black and he was watching her with intense fascination and something that seemed to be understanding. He was big and real and solid in front of her, he smelled of soap and clean, spicy male, and he was beautiful. 

‘Just a man…’ She reached out and ran her fingers lightly down his arm, skating gently over the strange, almost circular burn scars on the inside of his forearm before lacing her fingers over his, some distracted part of her mind noting that his hands were strong but fine, well shaped, even elegant, except for the swordsman’s callouses on palm and thumb and the corded muscles and veins of his wrist.

He let her do it, keeping totally still, hardly breathing, little runnels of water making trails down over the padded planes and taut, ridged muscles of chest and abdomen, over the small nipples and pooling in the hollow of his belly button…

Dropping her gaze down to where their hands met, Charlie felt a sense of calm, even though her heart was racing and belly tight with excitement. It was strange but she trusted him, she didn’t know how or why the change had happened but it had and she knew, just knew, that he wouldn’t hurt her or do anything that she didn’t want. 

He stood there, waiting for her to say something, do something.

She looked back up at him, ’I woke up and you weren’t there,’ she moved closer and rested her other hand on his chest, stroking it up and around the curve of his neck, caressing, playing with the curls at the base of his skull. ’So I came to find you, not to kill you. Not yet anyway.’

He grinned, ‘that’s good then…’ He put his free arm around her waist and pulled her in closer, pressing her up against the warm hard length of him. Then he leaned down and his lips were suddenly on hers, gently exploring, warm and firm, tongue flickering between her lips and meeting hers in a molten moment that melted her toes. 

Charlie felt her skin tingling and tightening from her lips to her clit and everywhere in between as his hand stroked her back, going gentle over her bruises and cuts, moving down over her ass then back up to her shoulders, leaving streaks of flickering sensation behind it. 

His other hand tightened on hers, thumb circling over her palm and around her wrist, pulling her closer. 

She let him do it, willingly pressing her body against him, nipples aching, his cock a thick ridge of warm, pulsing flesh against her belly and she wanted him to do so much more than kiss her.

He took a shuddering breath against her lips, ‘you’ve got way too many clothes on. Are you going to take them off or am I going to have to tear them off you.’ 

She felt a bolt of something primal and exciting race down to her core, sending a molten charge to her clit at the thought of letting him rip off her clothes, because she didn’t doubt for a minute that he could or would do it, and for a moment she was tempted just to see what it felt like. But good clothes were precious. So she stepped back a little and stripped off her shirt then her tank, dropping them on the floor behind her. Then she paused, still in her bra and jeans, looking at him.

Monroe was standing there watching her, his eyes hot, one hand stroking his hard length. ’And the rest?’

Charlie turned so her back was to him and gathered the heavy mass of her hair over one shoulder, ‘Undo me?’ She felt his lips on her neck as he unhooked her bra and slid the straps down over her shoulders, his hands stroking down her arms as he dropped the bra with her other things. 

He slid his hands back up, cupping her breasts, thumbs rasping over her nipples, making the sensitive skin around them tingle and her nipples come to attention. ‘If you want, I’ll undo you till you can’t move, Charlotte.’ His voice shivered in her ear, making her shiver with anticipation.

She laughed and leaned back, her back arching, pushing her breasts further into his hands, his broad shoulders surrounding her… 

His fingers slid slowly down over her belly, to the buttons of her jeans, undoing them, then sliding the material down over her hips, catching the band of her panties with his thumbs on the way so that they went down too. He dropped to his knees behind her, hands gripping her thighs... lips trailing hot, deep kisses down her spine, rubbing his scruff against the cheeks of her ass before pressing a kiss to each cheek, sending hot sensation rocketing up and down her spine, his arms tight around her legs. Then he worked on her boots, lifting one foot at a time to get them off, letting her lean against the hard strength of him as he took off her socks then finally the legs of her jeans.

Charlie thought she was going to burst into flames if he didn’t fuck her right now, but then he slowly stood up, his body moving against her in a slow, sweet slide against her skin, a swirling concert of sensation that made her sway back against him, a sighing breath escaping her lips… 

She turned in his arms to face him, her breath catching at the look of intense concentration on his face as he gazed at her.

He ran his hands up to cup her face, his fingers strong but gentle, caressing as he leaned down to press another kiss on her lips. ’You are so fucking beautiful, Charlie.’

She reached up to his shoulders then ran her hands down to his groin, bringing both hands together around his waiting and very ready cock, sliding fingers up and down the velvety hardness. ’So are you Sebastian Monroe.’

He picked her up and backed her up against the wall, lifting one of her legs up in the crook of his arm so that she was pinned, ready for him, his fiery blue eyes close to hers, full of intent and totally male purpose, the wide head of his cock already stretching her out. 

She braced herself…

He plunged home and she was so wet that he just slid inside, stretching her out until she gasped and scissored her other leg around him to bring him even closer, just the feel of him inside her almost sending her over the edge. 

He drew almost the whole way out, the heavy ridge around the head of his cock teasing the sensitive flesh of her pussy lips, then he slid back in until she gasped, doing it again and again until they were both dripping with sweat and panting for breath. 

Charlie slipped a hand down to her clit, her fingers sliding and pinching the sensitive flesh until she was almost there, his cock a velvet piston brushing the back of her hand as he moved in and out, picking up the pace until she could feel the tension rising in him too, his breath coming in gasps, the muscles of his arms trembling, and then she tumbled over the edge into a splintered, light filled torrent of release and pleasure and a moment later felt him pull out and spill over her belly, his body shuddering as he came.

When she could think again, the brick wall was digging into her back but her front was cushioned by Monroe’s warm, hard body, his arms still holding her up, her leg still wrapped around his waist, his cock, still semi-hard pinned between the two of them… 

Charlie winced and laughed at the same time. ‘Am I too heavy?’ There was a rustle of breath next to her ear and she felt him move a little, rearranging her weight in his arms, one of his legs braced against the wall. 

’No, you’re not…’ He drew back and looked at her, his eyes serious. ’Charlie, I just want you to know that was the best thing that’s happened to me in a very, very long time.’

Charlie gazed into those crystal blue eyes. ‘I never ever thought I’d say anything like this to you, but it was pretty good for me too.’ She slid down until her feet were on the floor although she kept her arms around him, enjoying the feel of his skin, the roughness of the hair dusting his chest and belly, the smooth muscles that he’d used to hold her so effortlessly. Then she slanted a grin up at him. ’I could really murder some of that stew now.’ Her hands slid down over the delicious curves of his chest. ’Why don’t we take some upstairs, we could eat and then we could… you know, do some more?’

His eyes laughed down at her and he kissed the tip of her nose. ‘Sounds like a good plan to me.’

………………………………………….

Charlie woke in the pale light of dawn to kisses that started as a soft tickling shiver at her ear, then trailed down her neck and over each breast, each nipple getting loving attention from tongue and lips that circled and teased until she squirmed, gasping, his hands hard on her waist then her hips as he moved down her body, leaving a sizzling trail of heated flesh. 

Her belly button was next and her back arched, her arms stretching out above her head as his tongue invaded and sucked. Then he moved down to her pussy, still sensitive from their lovemaking through the night and she gasped as his mouth and tongue worked yet more magic. She’d come undone more times than she could count and was feeling boneless and dreamily satisfied, although as he lifted his head and looked up at her with those electric blue eyes she invited him to come in again with a lift of her hips and a leg, circling his hips, urging him on. 

And he surged up, his thick length sliding into her with a now familiar stretch and it wasn’t too long and she was undone all over again…

……………………………………………..

When she woke again he was at the telescope, the long, muscled lines of his body a silhouette against the morning sun. He was slowly tracking something moving across the bay and there was something about his stillness that warned her.

‘What is it? Although she knew already. 

He turned to her, his face deliberately impassive, guarded. ‘Soldiers, Patriots maybe? Looks like their colours anyway. Coming this way. At least two dozen by the looks and they’ll be on the island in three maybe four hours depending on the wind and how good their crew is in these waters.’ He left the telescope, came over and knelt down by the bed, taking her hand and bringing it up to his lips. ‘Charlie, you’ve given me something I’ll remember for as long as I live. Now I need you to do something for me.’

She felt stupid tears come to her eyes and she looked away, hoping he wouldn’t ask that of her, not now…

He pulled her chin gently round so that she was looking at him again. ‘I want you to take my boat and go, while there’s time.’ 

………………………………………………..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Hi, and thanks so much again for sticking with me. I’ll have the rest of the story up soon, I just have to do a read through and a final edit. Cheers, Magpie


	5. Storm Petrel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note: Thanks so much for reading – and thanks to the Good Ship Charloe and her Captains for giving us prompts like this. Cheers and good wishes, Magpie

He pulled her chin gently round so that she was looking at him, ‘Please, take my boat and go Charlie, while you've still got time.’ 

She held his eyes, hers a depthless swimming blue that he longed to drown in. ’I’m not going anywhere, you moron.’ 

She sat up on the bed, breasts swinging a little with the movement and he shifted so that he could keep level with her, his hand moving down to caress the soft skin of her underarms and the sides of those breasts. Then she leaned into his hand and his breath caught when she ran her tongue over her bottom lip. 

’I can help you, I don’t like the Patriots any more than you do, and I can fight, you know that.’

He was willing to beg. ’Charlie, these are probably some of their weird zombies and believe me those guys are crazy bastards.’ he took her hand, ‘they’re stone cold killers, plain and simple.’

Charlie took her hand back. ’Listen, Monroe…’ and she frowned up at him, although there was a twitch at the corner of her mouth. ‘And just for the record, it feels really stupid calling you that when we’ve fucked each other silly all night.’ 

His eyes were drawn to the lush curves of her lips, remembering kisses from those lips that curled his hair. He couldn’t take his eyes off her mouth, could still taste her, so he leaned over and kissed her again, reluctant laughter shaking his chest ’You’re right, and my friends used to call me Bass,’ he moved closer. ‘But you can call me anything you like if you say you’ll go somewhere safe, at least until I’ve taken care of these guys.’

She took a deep breath. ’So where's somewhere safe? On the mainland? Where there are more Patriots and War clans? And people like Drexel and that guy in New Vegas? Gould?’ She leaned towards him, pushing the bedcovers away, her hair golden and tangled around her shoulders and curling round her breasts, skin pale and gleaming, bruises from the shipwreck shadowy shapes along her arms and legs… 

The sight of her long, strong legs and the shadowy cleft between them made him take a sudden breath. He reached out a hand to run his fingers over the smooth flesh of her hip and down the creamy thigh and groaned. ’You’re not playing fair, Charlie.’ He gave her a look, ’and how the hell do you know Drexel? He’s an evil son of a bitch.’

She swung herself up, and suddenly she was on top of him, her weight knocking him back onto his heels, her legs holding him prisoner between them, hands reaching down to frame his face, her hair a golden veil with the morning sun shining through it, dazzling him... 

She leaned close, ’Miles took us to Drexel’s place, Nora needed a doctor and Drexel had one. Then Aaron ended up killing him.’

‘Aaron Pittman, the staypuft computer guy? He killed Drexel?’ 

She chuckled a little at the look on his face, ’I’ll tell you about it later. But I travelled for months on my own and there’ve been plenty of times where I needed to fight to survive,’ she ran her hand up to his shoulder and he brought one of his up to cover hers. ’And don’t forget that I travelled with Miles for months too.’ She held his gaze. ’I can work with you, I can help. I’m good at fighting. I’m good at a lot of things.’

He sighed. ’Yeah, I know you are.’ He looked her up and down. ’But you nearly drowned yesterday. Are you sure you’re fit enough to do this? And it wasn’t that long ago either that all you wanted was to put a hole in me, so are you willing to do what I tell you, willing to take orders if you need to?’ He reached down with one hand and the other slid down to cup her ass, pulling her forward onto his waiting, wanting cock, slowly sinking himself into her tight, wet warmth, starting a slow slide in and out, his voice hoarse, a little breathless. ‘This is my island, I found it first, and I know it better than you do, and I've been a soldier a hell of a lot longer than you.’

She stared into his eyes, a wicked smirk spreading across her face. ‘I know that, but I’m younger than you, I heal faster and I’m feeling fine.’ She rested her forearms on his shoulders and increased their pace, riding him faster, her hair swinging around his face, the slapping sounds of their bodies meeting coming louder and faster. Then she stopped, holding them both still, their breathing harsh. She held herself on his cock, her inside muscles clenching him tight, feeling him surge inside her, pulsing and she licked her lips, leaning forward until her head was resting on his, moving her hips in little circles over his cock, brushing her ass along the hair rough skin his thighs.

He took a sharp breath in, fingers hard on her hips and butt cheeks, thumbs smoothing the sensitive skin of her belly, his own muscles tightening in the effort not to thrust, letting her govern the pace. 

She swept her lips down to his ear, running her tongue along the folds. ‘So don’t worry, Bass.’ Her voice was a whisper, her breath making him shiver with sensation. 'I’ll keep up, and I’ll even let you tell me what to do, as long as I agree with it, for now anyway. Don't get used to it.’ She ran her fingers through the curls at the nape of his neck and up over his skull.

He gasped at the burst of pleasure sizzling down his spine then his chuckle vibrated against her throat as he licked down to her breasts, circling one erect nipple with his lips and running his tongue over the sensitive peak. He looked up at her, his eyes meeting hers in a searing promise. ‘You are one amazing woman, Charlie, and if we do it right we’ll make those bastards regret ever coming here.’ Then he pulled out and slammed back into her, 'but just because I'm older than you, doesn't mean I'm getting slow.'

She gasped and tightened her grip around his shoulders, a scream bursting from her throat as he plunged in to her again and again, faster and faster, his thumbs sweeping down to her clit, massaging and working the firm little ridge and sensitive nub until she was quivering against him, her breath coming in ragged gasps that broke into a hoarse yell as she came apart around him, slumping boneless over his shoulders as he lifted her, resting her back against the side of the bed and spilling himself in a final surge onto the floor between her legs. 

Letting her slide back down onto his thighs, he buried his head against her shoulder, a satisfied laugh vibrating his chest as he pulled her close, her legs draped around him in graceful abandon, her hair covering them both in a golden curtain, the sunlight picking up and highlighting strands, turning them into molten streaks.

Everything hung where it was for an endless moment, then Bass took a long breath and let it out slowly in a regretful sigh. ’If you’re sure about staying, then we’d better get moving. The sooner we get rid of the zombies the sooner we can get back to doing more of this.’ His arms tightened around her.

She chuckled against his shoulder, the sensitised skin of her breasts rubbing in a delightful slide against his chest. ‘Yeah…’ She leaned back and looked him in the eyes, serious, then lifted a hand and brought it up to his face, running her thumb gently along the ridge of his cheekbone, her palm resting down the side of his cheek. ‘There’s a lot of stuff that I haven’t worked out yet.’ Her lips curved, ’but whatever happens I’m glad I came and that you found me.’ She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and her dimple flashed. ’But most of all, I’m glad you were having a bath when I walked down to the kitchen or we might still be dancing around whatever this is that we’re doing.’

His eyes crinkled and his head fell back as his laugh rang out, and he pulled her in close, ’so am I.’ He stopped laughing, his gaze on her again, the blue of his eyes so intense she could almost feel it on her skin. ‘When I found you on the beach? I knew you'd come to kill me, I mean, why else would you have come all the way out here? I had a choice, I could’ve just left you there, or I could choose to save you and myself. What I’m saying is I think you brought me back to life, not the other way round.’ The eyes became a liquid, swirling blue as he gazed into hers. ’I was planning to make this my last stand, Charlie, I knew they’d find me sooner or later and all I wanted was to take as many of them with me as I could before they finished me and then the world would finally be rid of Sebastian Monroe.’

She frowned, ’it’s different now though, isn’t it?’

He nodded slowly. ’Oh yeah, it’s different now…’ He leaned forward to kiss her again, his lips demanding an answer from hers.

She gave it, somehow everything was different now.

………………………………..

Charlie sat at the big oak table in the kitchen where the two of them were having a late breakfast of venison steak, eggs and Monroe's own corn bread. 'This is great,' her voice was muffled around a big mouthful.

'I'm still working on the bread, need to get the grind finer.' Bass was pleased though. He was working on a way of properly drying and grinding the maize he’d found gone wild in a couple of the gardens on the island but when the smoothest grind he could make was mixed with eggs and some of the goat’s milk and fried in duck fat with the eggs it was pretty damn tasty, and Charlie was digging into it like she’d never be full. 

He topped up their coffee from the pot on the stove. On his last trip to the mainland he’d been able to trade for some Mexican beans and palm sugar too and steaming mugs sat on the table in front of them along with a jug of clean water from the nearby spring and a bowl of early apples. He hadn’t been able to catch any of the cows yet, they were too wild, and goats milk was pretty bad in coffee, so it was black, but he didn't mind, and Charlie didn't seem to either.

‘This is really good too,’ she mumbled through a mouthful of coffee then reached for another piece of corn bread as she studied an old tourist map of the island. Bass had found it in the Information centre at the ferry dock in Duck Harbor on one of his expeditions around the island. ’So where do you think they’ll come in?’ 

He pointed at a spot on the map marked ‘Town Landing’. There, at the old ferry dock.’ He sipped at his own coffee, then put the mug down away from the precious map. ‘There are only two safe landing spots on the island, Town Landing and Duck Harbor.’ He moved his finger. ’There’s Duck Harbor.’ His lips curved in a tight grin. ’Everywhere else is too dangerous, the rocks go right out and if they try to land anywhere else they’ll crack their boat like an egg.’ He moved his finger again and tapped a symbol on the map. ’See? that’s the lighthouse.’

She nodded.

‘It's there for a reason.’ 

Charlie looked closer. ’So why wouldn’t they go round the other side of the island?’

His grin widened. ’Same thing only worse, Charlie. That’s open sea. Bigger swells and bigger rocks.’ He nodded. ’They’d probably have a local skipper and he or she won’t want to scupper their own boat so they’ll take the safest route in - and that’s to Town Landing’ 

She sat back, munching on another piece of bread. ‘So what’s the plan?’

He tipped his head back to finish his coffee then put the mug down. ’I was going to lead them into the forest and pick them off but with two of us there’s another possibility.’

Charlie looked up. ’Decoys? Miles talked about using them once, in some town back east?’

He nodded, chuckling. ‘Charlestown, I remember.’

She coughed on a mouthful, ‘I thought he was making it up.’

He shook his head. ‘Miles never jokes about stuff like that,’ he tapped the map, ’we could pin them down at the landing, stop them coming any further onto the island, with two of us we could cover enough ground to do it. ’ His eyes were glowing with a kind of boyish enthusiasm that made him look young and almost, ‘and I’ve been working on something that might give us an edge. I’ll be back in a minute.’ He got up and went out into the hall.

Charlie watched him go, hearing him talk about Miles so naturally had touched something deep inside her, brought him closer, made the kitchen feel almost like family, almost like home… 

She finished off the eggs and bread and brewed some more coffee, feeling good. The bruises from her dunking were feeling much better, her arm ditto. She was maybe a little sore in her nether regions after the workout last night and this morning, but, and she grinned at the thought, totally fucking worth it. She thought back to the girl in the tent in New Vegas with a bit more understanding. If another woman tried to get near Bass now they’d have to go through her to do it, because Charlie Matheson didn’t share well at all. She heard him coming back and looked over at the door, staring in amazement. Then she laughed.

He was standing just inside the doorframe, his arms around two life-size figures, holding them up so they were standing on either side of him. They had small, round cushions for heads, and were wearing beanies and scarves over wind-jackets and jeans, held up by braces. Their arms and legs looked like they were made from broomsticks and he had made them jointed so as he came into the room, the figures seemed to move around in a jerky but almost lifelike way. He grinned, lifting the outside arm of each figure and making them wave at her. ’Charlie, I’d like you to meet Henry and June.’

Charlie got up to see them better, her eyes sparkling. She was impressed. They were well put together and he’d even managed to give them faces with paint and stitching. They had mop heads for hair, and he’d trimmed Henry’s short, leaving it white under a brown beanie, June’s was dyed black and tied in pigtails and her blue hat set off the hair beautifully. 'They’re wonderful. Can I have Henry?’

Bass shook his head ‘I don’t know that I trust him with you Charlie. He’s a dirty old man.’ 

She looked closer, he’d painted a surprisingly realistic leer on the fabric face and that, plus the round glasses attached made Henry very life like. 'He looks like one too.'

'And even if he wasn’t, I don’t want any other guy near you but me’ he pushed the female figure towards her, grinning. ’Here, you can have June.’ 

Charlie sat Henry and June on chairs at the table. They made the kitchen suddenly seem more cozy and when she thought of the time and trouble that Bass must have spent on making them her heart ached. It was funny how things had changed, and how easy it was getting to think of him as Bass rather than Monroe… She took a deep breath and bent over the map again. Back to business. ‘So me and June’ll be where?’

………………………………….

Bass was upstairs, checking on the Patriot boat’s position one more time and he was as sure as he could be that the boat was heading into Town landing. The vessel had gotten close enough for him to recognize it and Bass knew who the skipper was likely to be. Jake was well known locally as a hard drinking but fair trader, running several fishing boats with the help of his wife, two daughters and three sons. Bass had had a couple of friendly bouts in the local fight tent with two of the sons and had had more than a few sessions involving cards and large amounts of whiskey with the father.

He watched, lips curving in a little smile. The boat was going a lot slower than her top speed, was under a lot less steam and sail than she’d usually carry and was following the route with best visibility from high points on the island. The skipper was helping Bass out as much as he could while not getting on the wrong side of his passengers and Bass didn’t think he could ask for more than that, the guy had a family to protect after all. 

If they all got through this ok he’d thank him properly. 

…………………………………………

They were almost ready to head down the tunnel to the inlet where Bass had found Charlie, and he was planning on picking up some of his other supplies along the way. 

There was just enough time for them to get set up in the hillside rocks above the landing before the boat pulled in. He’d let the piglets out into the garden so if the worst happened and he and Charlie didn’t come back, they’d eventually work out how to get through the fences and go back to the hills. He’d also lured the cats out of the house with some scraps and had left the latch of the goat paddock loose. Knowing the goats, they’d work their way out in no time but he’d rather have to catch them again than have them trapped if he didn’t come back. 

He tossed Henry over his shoulder, then stood and looked at the house for a few moments, Charlie was standing next to the front door under the porch, waiting for him, June slung over her hip with the head resting on her shoulders. And damn if she didn’t look like she was holding a child. Bass swallowed a lump in his throat. His mermaid had swum right into his heart, but he was a fool to think that she would ever think of having a baby with him even though he could almost imagine blond curls resting on her shoulder instead of the rough wig of a stupid manikin. 

He allowed himself a moment to dream that they could make a good life here, a full life, if she somehow decided that she wanted to stay with him. And if they survived today.

Then he remembered who and what he was. A fugitive, a hunted man and he had no right even dreaming about asking her to stay with him because even if they were lucky enough to get rid of this lot of hunters there was bound to be another and another and another after that. He’d have to let her go even though everything in him protested that he’d finally, finally found the woman he’d always been looking for in all of the rest. Even though she’d said she wanted to stay…

He pulled himself together, there were some soldiers to get out of the way right now, there was no time for dreams. Maybe he should ask her again if she’d go and wait for him on the mainland? 

Charlie watched him as he strode towards her, his long legs eating up the space between them, his dark blond curls shining in the early afternoon sun. There was something in his eyes that she couldn’t read though, a distance that hadn’t been there before. She carefully rested June against the corner of the doorframe and moved to meet him. ‘What is it?’

He stopped, just in front of her. ’Charlie, I’ve been thinking. I’ve got a boat moored down at Duck Harbor, it’s covered by a tarp and a strip of camo but you’ll be able to spot it.’ 

She started shaking her head. ’Oh no you don’t, we’ve talked about this before and I thought we had it all worked out, I’m not leaving you.’

He put his hands on her shoulders. ’I just want you to know it’s there, in case things go wrong today.’

‘Things aren’t going to go wrong,’ her eyes were stormy. ‘It’s a good plan.’ 

Bass tucked a strand of hair back behind her ear. ’Yeah, It’s a good plan and I’m pretty sure that it’ll work.’ He dropped a kiss on the top of her head. ‘But if it doesn’t and I go down or they capture me, I want you to run like hell for Duck Harbor, take my boat and get away from here. Don’t try anything stupid like try to save me, ok?’ 

Charlie pulled away from him. Suddenly she felt very calm. ’Sebastian Monroe, I’m not stupid and you know it. If something goes really wrong and you’re dead, then yes, I’ll go and find your boat.’ She gazed up at him, face set and eyes very steady. 

He looked down at her. She was taking it better than he thought she would…

Then her eyes flashed. ’But if you do something stupid and get yourself hurt or captured just because you think I’m better off without you.’ She lifted a hand and punched him on the shoulder, hard. ’I’ll kill you myself.’

Turning on her heel she scooped up June, tucking her under her arm. Then whirled back around. 

He was still standing there, a slightly dazed expression on his face.

She frowned. ‘Are you coming?’

His mouth opened and he lifted an eyebrow, ‘Yes ma’am.’ He followed her, trying to hide a smile.

…………………………….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Hi there, and thanks so much for reading!! :) hope to see you at the next chapter, cheers, Magpie


	6. Carrion crow...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note: Thanks so much for reading – and for the lovely reviews!! Cheers and good wishes, Magpie

They were crouched behind a long, low, drystone wall that ran along a ridge at the top of the hill a few hundred feet up a grassy slope from the wooden jetty of the landing. A short distance behind them sat the mostly intact, whitewashed building that used to be the island’s General store. Henry and June were slumped against the steps at the side of the building, ready for action. The slope below them was scattered with several large boulders and rocky piles that would be useful for cover from either direction – and were also where Bass had concentrated his defences. He and Charlie had spent the last hour or so walking over the locations of the camouflaged ditches, pit traps and other little surprises he’d been working on over the last few months.

At the moment though, he was watching the Patriot boat through binoculars as it steamed towards them through the deep waters of the straits between Isle au Haut and it’s closest neighbour, Kimball Island. It all seemed so peaceful, clouds sculling overhead, sea birds wheeling and calling, the salt spice scent of the sea and for a moment anger seethed inside him. He’d tried to leave all the fighting behind but these guys just wouldn't leave him alone. He let it go in a long breath out, let the familiar pre battle focus take over, plans and contingencies lining themselves up in neat alphabetical order in his mind. 

The mostly grey stone buildings of the town sat nestled in the hills behind them, inhabited now only by ghosts, feral goats and wild birds nesting in the eaves. The pale stone spire of the church rose into a clear blue sky, its bell still sounding when the wind blew strong enough, which happened most of the time. 

Charlie could hear the bell now, a soft, constant ringing. She ignored it, going over the plan one more time.

The storm and wind ravaged Tourist reception centre cum boathouse sat where the jetty joined the stony shore behind a small stone retaining wall set above the half moon beach. Its wooden doors were hanging off their hinges, and the frame and whitewashed weatherboard walls as well as most of the roof were open to the elements, but it could still provide plenty of cover and Bass was counting on at least some of their unwanted visitors going into the building. A little earlier he’d sawn through key timbers of the structure and any careless bump or extra weight in the wrong place would bring the whole structure down on top of whoever was inside. That was part of the plan anyway. He and Charlie had spent the last hour or so scoping out the other parts, walking over the locations of the camouflaged ditches, pit traps and other little surprises he’d been working on over the last few months.

They were as ready as they could be.  
………………………………………………

The boat, a sturdy 75 footer converted to steam power with the name ‘Celine D’ written on the side in faded red and white script, was one of the larger fishing vessels operating locally. She was approaching the jetty now, slowed to a dead crawl and Bass and Charlie could clearly see the shapes of Patriot troops milling on the deck, their packs and the shapes of a few guns bulking out their silhouettes.

Bass raised his binoculars to get a better look. ’I count twenty one plus one strangely familiar pain in my ass.’ He shook his head and passed the binoculars to her. ’Here, have a look.’

She took the viewer and put it to her eyes, then chuckled. ‘You’re right, it’s Adam. I thought I lost him a few weeks back, but he must be a hell of a lot better at tracking than I thought.’ She shook her head. Adam was one of the bounty hunters from New Vegas, one of the dumb idiots who thought they’d had Sebastian Monroe in the bag until he ran off with their wagon, leaving the older hunter dead, Adam cursing his luck and one Charlie Matheson gasping for breath after running her ass off chasing all three of them. He was standing at the bow of the boat, obviously planning to be first on shore.

Bass frowned. ’Is that his name? How d’you know him?’

Charlie lifted an eyebrow. ’I was there when they captured you in New Vegas, I tracked you to that empty pool and followed the wagon. And after you killed the old guy, stole the wagon and left us stranded on the road,’ she shrugged, ’we ended up travelling together for a while, following your trail.’

Bass grabbed the binoculars out of her hands and had another look. Ok, the guy was good looking enough, if you liked the tall, well built, boy band type. ’So how well did you get to know him?’

Her other brow rose and she slanted a grin his way. ’Why do you want to know? jealous?’

His lips curved, although his eyes weren’t smiling at all as he looked down at Adam’s tall figure and he shrugged. ’No… just wondering if my blowing his head off is going to be a problem for you.’

Charlie shook her head. ’Nope, I don’t like killing unless I have to, but what else we can do with him? I mean, we can hardly keep him in the cellar.’ She grinned, ’and you’re a bad liar, Bass Monroe.’

He reached out with his spare hand and tweaked a strand of her hair, then adjusted the focus on the binoculars, looking at the boat. ‘So… did you?’

‘Did I what?’

He put the binoculars down on the grass beside him and turned to face her. ’Did you fuck Mr tall, dark and annoyingly persistent?’

She frowned, her eyes snapping. ’Not that it’s any of your business, but no I didn’t, we were too busy working out how to get back on your stupid trail.’ 

A slow smile curved his lips…

She punched his arm, her lips twisting in a reluctant grin, ’Bastard…’ Then she sat back, her head tipped to the side, eyes thoughtful, ’So what would you have done if I’d said yes?’

The smile disappeared. 

The sudden change shocked her. 

He looked at her, face open, ’I’d have asked if you still wanted him and if you said yes then I’d have kept him alive for you.’ He blinked, looking away. ‘Then I’d take off in my boat and this time you wouldn’t find me.’

Charlie stared at him for a moment. He looked like he really meant that; there was a vulnerable look on his face that made her heart ache again.’ You’d really do that?’

He looked back towards the boat, only a few hundred yards from the jetty now. There was movement on the deck, people moving around in preparation for landing. ‘I’m no good for you, Charlie, although I won’t lie, I wish it were different, you make me hope for things I’ve no right to, and since you got here you’ve made me feel things I never thought I’d feel again.’ He braced his shoulders and reached for his gun, sighting down the barrel at the boat. ‘But there’s always going to be a price on my head unless someone finishes the Patriots and whatever’s left of the Militia and I don’t know who the hell’s going to do that.’

She frowned, ‘Bass…’

He lifted his head from the sights and looked down at the weapon, not at her. ’Miles and me together might have had a shot but fuck that’s so not gonna happen.’ He shrugged, put the gun back down on the top of the wall and turned towards her, lips tight, frown lines deep between his brows, his eyes still avoiding hers. ’Oh, and lets not forget Texas, they’ve got a bounty on me as well, although I suppose I should be grateful that Cali just got one of their witchy types to put a hex on me and that the Plains Nations don’t give a crap about anyone else anyway.’   
His eyes finally met hers, a depth of despair and loss in them that tore at her heart.

‘Bass.’ She moved closer to him, her hand reaching out.

’Let me finish, Charlie. Please?’ He held a hand up to stop her coming closer then rubbed it across his chin and the scruff there, looking off into the distance. ‘I thought I’d found somewhere here that I could just disappear, where I wouldn’t get anyone else tangled up in my fucked up life, but when I saw you on that beach I thought that you were a sign that I could find Miles again, find what was left of the only family I had left.’

He sighed, a heavy breath that caught on the way out, ’but I was wrong, trying to find Miles would be wrong. I’d just be leading trouble straight to his door, and to your Mom, I see that now.’ His eyes caught hers in a swimming blue net. ‘And then you and me… happened, and I found myself wanting so much more than just catching up with Miles. But that’s wrong too, you’ll only get hurt, everyone I care about ends up getting hurt.’ 

He leaned back against the wall and looked across at her, his face set, eyes so serious, ‘so just then, when I found out that you knew Adam, I thought that maybe he could give you so much more than me, that he’d be better for you than me, so, yes, if you said you wanted him I’d save him for you, and maybe you’d have something better than a man who’ll probably only get you killed.’ 

Charlie had once thought Sebastian Monroe incapable of feelings, but she’d been wrong. The General Monroe she’d met in Philly and in the Tower had been caught up in the same madness that had affected Miles and her mom and that had led to the deaths of her dad and Danny, and of Philly and Atlanta. It was the madness of a world caught up in the aftermath of the blackout. She understood it now, had seen so much more of the world than the girl she’d been then. It hadn’t all been his fault, if anything he and Miles had tried to help by setting up the Militia, at first anyway, before things went so wrong. Like he said, he’d done bad things and good things… they all had.

He sat there quietly looking off into the distance, waiting for her to answer him. 

She took a quiet breath. ‘I don’t know what it is that we have, or how long it’ll last, or what will happen to us. But I do know how this feels, and it feels right.’ She reached out to take his hand, lacing her fingers through his long ones. ’And I know that I want to stay with you.’ She leaned forward, so she could look into those distant blue eyes and bring him back. ‘I don’t care about Adam, not like that, he’s nothing compared to you. He might look ok, but he’s really dumb. Why d’you think I dumped him?’ 

A small twitch start at the corner of his mouth. 

Charlie knew she was winning then. ’I don’t want him dead, I don’t want anyone dead, but if he gets between you and me, I’ll kill him myself.’ 

He still didn’t say anything, although a thumb was running little circles over the soft skin of her wrist. 

She moved a little closer. ’So lets fight one battle at a time, ok? First we need to get rid of Adam and these Patriots, then we can work on the next thing, together. And maybe that means going to Miles, or maybe it means fighting the Patriots ourselves, I don’t know yet.’ She was in between his thighs now his bent knees rising on either side of her, the heat of his body radiating out. 

He moved his legs a little to give her more room.

She leaned against him. ’And maybe we have to go somewhere else anyway – because you’re right, now that they know that you’re here maybe they won’t stop coming and that’s my fault, because I led them here. But you never know’ she tried a smile. ‘We might be lucky and they haven’t told anyone else, maybe they want the glory themselves?’ She felt his warmth, could smell his clean, male smell, the soap that he’d used, the smell of old sweat and wood-smoke on his jacket. She ran her free hand up his chest and around the back of his neck, eyes holding his. ‘Either way we’ll work it out together, alright?’

He let go of her hand and took a deep, shuddering breath. ‘Charlie, do you know just how amazing you are?’

‘You can keep telling me if you like,’ she reached up and found his lips, parting them with her own, her hands cupping his face. 

His arms went round her, pulling her against his chest, his body warm and strong and solid… 

She gasped into his open mouth, her heart pounding as he kissed her as though there was nothing else in the world but them.

Then he pulled back a little so he could meet her eyes. ‘Ok then, so it’s you and me against the world. Are you ready to do this, Charlie?’

She nodded, lips swollen from the kiss. ‘June’s ready to rumble and so am I.’

He smiled back, eyes hot blue fires, ’Henry’s got a hard on too.’

…………………………………………………………….

Bass watched as the Patriots unloaded their gear. Adam had jumped onto shore as soon as he was near enough, dropping down behind one of the wooden pilings, taking out his own binoculars and searching the hillside. He wouldn’t see anything suspicious yet though. Things would only start happening once the boathouse collapsed.

From what he could see the troop were a mix of raw recruits and seasoned troops, most of them rough around the edges, uniforms dirty and ragged, a few had rifles, most carried swords and smaller hand weapons. The highest ranked amongst them was only a sergeant. Bass looked again to make sure. Maybe Adam had found a troop down on its luck and promised them a share of the bounty, maybe it wasn’t an official mission at all. He wondered if the bounty hunter had told them just who they were after.

Once the Patriot soldiers were all on shore, Bass watched Jake, his cards and drinking buddy from the mainland and skipper of the Celine D, casually untie the mooring ropes, step back aboard the boat and shove off from the jetty using one of the poles set on the deck for that purpose, just as casually raising one arm above his head in a salute aimed at anyone who happened to be looking. 

It wasn’t until Jake got the steam engines up and going again that any of the soldiers seemed to notice that their only visible means of transport off the island was rapidly disappearing out to sea, and then there was a sort of panicked rush as some of them ran towards the boat, one trooper even falling into the water. Bass almost felt embarrassed for the sergeant. He was also beginning to think that he’d seriously over estimated this particular threat. 

Adam was thinking the same thing judging by the look on his face. 

Bass signalled to Charlie, who flashed him a brilliant grin, tipping her head towards the mess down at the jetty and rolling her eyes before moving quietly away with June, keeping out of sight behind the wall and following it to a spot about fifty yards from his current position. 

Henry was lying face up a few feet from Bass, ready to do his bit for the team too.

The Patriots somehow got themselves reorganised and ready to roll but given that it was heading towards dark, Bass figured they’d use the boathouse as a base for the night. They didn’t seem inclined to start a search right away, nor had they sent out any scouts, even though presumably they knew there was at least one hostile on the island with them. He wasn’t surprised that the troop looked down on its luck, it was a wonder that any of them had survived this long. 

Adam appeared to be planning to stay with the others though, at least for the time being, which was lucky for him. 

He smiled, but it wasn’t a nice smile. Nothing the invaders did or didn’t do would make any difference anyway, if his plan worked none of them would be leaving the island alive.

The troop moved up the jetty and the first of them entered the boathouse. 

Bass held his breath, he just needed one or more of them to touch something. 

Someone did. There was a kind of ripple through the fabric of the building and one of the walls buckled in, quickly followed by the roof and the remaining walls. Shouts of alarm and bellows of pain erupted from the building and again there seemed to be a general, ineffectual panic amongst the dozen or so soldiers left outside, as though none of them had any idea of what to do next. 

Bass smiled, more than satisfied. It had worked even better than he’d hoped.

Adam seemed to see the need for leadership, especially as the Sergeant had been inside the building when it collapsed, and Bass watched as the bounty hunter organized the group into search teams. He didn’t think they’d find many to rescue though, the place had been rickety but its mostly timber structure had been built solid.

Then Adam started searching the hillside with his binoculars. 

Bass noted his pattern, one sweep to the right then back to centre, one to the left then back and then repeat, and on the next sweep to the left, he lifted Henry up so that the top of his head would just be visible from below, walked him along a few steps, then ducked him down again. He waited for a few moments then gave Charlie the signal, watching as she did the same with June. 

He checked what was happening down on the jetty and just as he’d hoped, the remaining troops, except for a couple still on rescue detail were being organised by Adam into a standard strategy, two groups of five, each moving up the hill in the directions Bass had planned for them earlier. Adam was in the group headed Charlie’s way, making hers six. They were armed with a mixture of rifles, handguns, standard issue sabres and short swords.

Ok. They were almost at his next little surprise. He turned to Charlie, meeting her eyes, the excitement and determination in them making his heart soar with the kind of hope he hadn’t felt in ages. 

She raised June’s hand in a salute. 

Bass heard a yell from down the hill on Charlie’s side, so he lifted Henry’s arm as well to make sure he had their attention too. 

Another chorus of yells rose up the slope on his side this time, they were getting closer, both groups almost at the right spot. He turned to Charlie and lifted his rifle.

She flashed him a blue eyed grin, hers was aimed and ready too. 

Bass levelled and aimed, taking a couple of shots at the troops heading his way. Two down. 

Charlie got two as well and she slanted a grin of pure triumph his way, her eyes meeting his in a blazing stare that he could have sworn was actually solid. His heart was pounding and his dick throbbing, jeans suddenly way too tight and he laughed out loud as he took aim again. He’d forgotten the thrill of fighting alongside a good partner and Charlie made him feel alive again in the best fucking way possible.

There were three left in his group, four in hers but they were all running for cover, which was exactly what he wanted them to do. 

His three found the pit trap he’d hidden behind some rocks, falling in with loud yells of dismay, cut off abruptly when the pile of stones and earth he’d balanced on the edge fell in on them.

Then Charlie’s four, which included Adam, panicked and ran for the nearest cover which just happened to be another pit trap, on the way Bass picked one of them off, Charlie got the other two, leaving Adam on his own diving for cover. 

Bass had his finger on the trigger and the guy in his sights but looked over at Charlie, he didn’t have any qualms about shooting, but he wanted it to be her decision, her choice.

She looked a little conflicted and Bass understood, it was one thing to shoot someone in the middle of battle, quite another to kill them in cold blood, especially if you knew the guy. 

Just ask Miles… 

‘Charlie, is that you?’ Adam’s voice came floating up the hill. He’d shuffled sideways and was lying flat behind some low bushes. ’Charlie, I know it’s you, and you’re fighting with him? What happened to the ‘Monroe killed half my family thing?’

Charlie looked over at Bass, meeting his steady gaze with her own. ‘What do you want, Adam?’ her voice carried over the wall, but she didn’t show herself, wanting to see what he’d do if he thought he knew where she was.

‘I don’t mean you any harm Charlie, I just want Monroe.’ He lifted a hand above his head, ’listen, I’ll even split the bounty with you, sixty forty. The US guys have put it up to two hundred diamonds, it’s a fucking fortune, what do you say?’

Charlie called back. ’Ok, lets talk about it.’ She raised June’s head just above the wall and as she did a shot rang out from Adam’s pistol, going straight through the top of June’s head, sending pieces of cushion, bits of mop and blue beanie exploding like confetti into the air. Charlie swung round to face Bass, eyes hard, lips tight. Then she nodded. 

He took the shot, Adam had just realised his mistake in getting up too high and was diving down again but as he did, the bullet caught him through the chest and he slumped to the ground, lying very still. 

Charlie watched him fall then glanced at Bass, her eyes catching his for a long moment before moving away to scan for any more soldiers heading up the hill. 

He let out the breath he’d been holding because there hadn’t been a trace of regret in her eyes.

They still had some cleaning up to do though. Bass looked down to see what the Patriots still on the jetty were up to. The remaining men were scrambling for their weapons and they needed to get down there to finish this. He turned to her, ‘Charlie?’

Her mouth twisted in a fierce grin. ‘I know, we can’t let any of them leave.’ She filled her pockets with spare ammo clips, her other hand reaching automatically for a crossbow that wasn’t there. 

He noticed as he slung his rifle over his shoulder and drew his swords. ‘I’ll make you a new bow if you like.’

The grin got wider, ‘you just found the way to my heart, Monroe.’   
………………………………………..

It didn’t take the two of them long to finish off the rest of the patriots and Charlie found a rhythm and ease fighting alongside Bass that was uncannily similar to how it had been with Miles, although it wasn’t really that surprising when she thought about it.

Anyway, it was all over by the time Jake arrived. 

He’d watched from the boat, ready to help if he needed to, then decided that they didn’t actually need any help and sat back to enjoy the show. He was still chuckling about it as the three of them retrieved the bodies of the soldiers who’d fallen on the hillside, loaded them onto the Celine D and took them out to deeper water, dropping them overboard weighted with stones.

It was too risky to retrieve the bodies of the Patriots who’d been in the boat house when it collapsed, so Bass fetched a couple of cans of kerosene from his stores and they set it alight, watching as flames and smoke rose into the air buffeted by the sea breeze, sparks flying out like shooting stars.

……………………………………………

A little later Bass and Charlie stood at the edge of the jetty and waved Jake off as he headed out into the moonlit bay in the Celine D. Any obvious signs that there’d been a fight had been cleaned up and they were almost ready to head on back up to the house. 

‘It was nice of him to invite us over for dinner, Bass.’

‘Yeah, he was glad of the diamonds too, the cheapskates hadn’t paid him.’ Bass had given Jake a third share of the diamonds and gold they found on Adam and the patriot troops. ‘And he’s going to tell people the Patriot guys didn’t find what they were looking for and moved on.’ He chuckled, ‘after they accidentally set fire to the boathouse.’

She laughed too, ’I like him.’

Bass pulled her into his arms, ‘you’ll like the rest of his family too, they're good people.’

She hummed a reply, leaning back against him, the still burning boatshed warm behind them, but she was thinking about the bounty sheets she’d found in Adam’s backpack. The ones with Bass’ name on them had gone straight on the fire before Jake saw them, but there’d been one other name that she kept. She didn’t know what the patriots wanted with her mom, or if there was anything she could do about it anyway given they were such a long way from Willoughby. But her mom was scary all on her own, and she was with Miles. 

If he couldn’t protect her she didn’t know that anyone could. 

At the moment though, it was enough to be here with Bass and that both of them were still alive. She turned and wrapped her arms around him, the moonlight surrounding them both with a silver halo…

He pulled her in even closer, his body hard and hot and strong around her, his clothes smelling of smoke, sweat and gunfire.

‘How about I fix us some food and a hot bath?’ his voice was soft in her ear.

She looked up, eyes wide and her sore muscles throwing a party at the thought. ’A hot bath? Really?’ 

He chuckled, ‘yeah, by the time we catch the piglets and round up the chickens there’ll be enough water heated up.’

She bent and scooped June up, flinging the slightly pathetic and headless remains over her shoulder, ‘so what’re we waiting for, grab Henry and lets’s go.’

………………………………………………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: so glad you’re still with me on this one, next chapter’s up very soon, cheers :) Magpie


	7. Littoral

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note: Hi there!! you are awesome! hope you like this one, its kind of a Charloe interlude lol. Cheers and good wishes, Magpie

The cats greeted them at the door and darted inside as soon as it opened, running straight past them into the warm kitchen. Bass and Charlie followed them in, hauling two big buckets of water each .o heat up in the cauldron on the range. Bass threw some extra logs in to speed things up along with a chicken he’d killed, dressed and jointed that morning to roast with some root vegetables from the storeroom. Then he and Charlie headed out to see to the outside animals in the bright moonlight. 

The goats were still in their paddock although one of the kids had got itself under the fence and had to be helped to go back in and join its mother. The eight half grown piglets were still in their yard too and came running up to the gate when they saw the humans, squealing, playing and shoving each other, behaving so much like bald pink puppies that Charlie almost swore off bacon on the spot, almost. 

Bass put his lantern down and bent over the wooden fence to pat the eager piggy faces. ’Just don’t give ‘em names, Charlie, ok? No names.’

She chuckled. ’But they’re so cute…’

He stood up again, pulling her into a hug, ‘I know, but there’s no point getting too attached to them.’ 

‘I guess, but they’re still cute…’ She leaned into his warmth, loving the feel of his arms around her, the way he’d started to touch her, hug her, whenever he could.

’Jake’s got a friend who breeds pigs. He’ll be very glad to take these little guys and girls when they’re a bit bigger.’ He leaned down, rubbing his cheek against hers, making her quiver, his scruff tickling and sending little shivers of pleasure down to her belly. ’God, you feel good Charlie,’ he sniffed her neck, his nose wrinkling, ’but… holy crap, is that you, me or the pigs?’

She laughed, squirming in his arms, ’I think the pigs are leaving, Bass.’

He leaned down to pick up the lantern again, keeping his arm around her. ’Definitely bath time then…’

……………………………………….

They were back in the cosy kitchen and Charlie had stretched June out on the floor, planning repairs. It was full dark now, the curtains closed against the night and the light of the oil lamps and candles casting little pools around the room that overlapped at intervals, making everything look soft edged and tinged with warm gold. 

Bass had just come back downstairs from another sweep of the bay through the telescope and was busy at the range, checking the dinner and the smell of roasting chicken wafted into her nostrils. 

She looked round, mouth watering, ‘that smells so good…’

He closed the oven door, stood up and swept a hand towards the tub. ‘Yeah, there’s time for a bath first though, you want to go first?’ 

Charlie stood up, suddenly feeling every one of the aches and pains from the shipwreck and the day. She yawned and stretched, the bones of her shoulders popping and cracking. Then she kicked off her boots and socks and peeled off her shirt and tank, dropping them all in a pile near the door. 

Bass was standing by the bath, watching her and she smiled at the look of intense concentration in his eyes; it was as though he was memorising everything about her.

She crossed her arms and slowly flicked one of her bra straps down over her shoulder, then the other. 

His eyes dropped to follow her hands then rose to her face. 

She walked slowly over to him, holding his eyes with hers, then turned around, just within reach. ‘Undo me again?’

He laughed, the sound deep and full of male intent, then carefully brushed the heavy strands of her hair over one shoulder with one hand, the tips of his fingers trailing across the sensitive skin between her shoulder blades, his other hand going to the clasp of her bra, undoing it with a quick twist then stroking both hands up to her shoulders and down her arms, taking the bra down too and dropping it to the floor. His fingers spread out, pulling her back against the hard strength of his body. 

She felt his lips on the uncovered skin of her neck, nibbling and licking his way down to the curve of her shoulder, sending shivers racing through her. 

His fingers slid down over her bare belly and deftly undid the buttons of her jeans, sliding them with her panties down over her hips and thighs, the weight of the fabric, heavy with ingrained dirt and grime from the fighting, carrying them down the rest of the way. 

She stepped out of one leg then the other, kicked them towards the rest of the bundle on the floor and leaned back against him, her head resting back on his shoulder. The candles and lamps making everything warm and golden… 

His hands and arms slid around her as his lips brushed the tender skin at the base of her neck. He took a long breath in and blew it out downwards to where her nipples were framed by his arms making the skin around them tighten and the nipples peak. ’Charlie, do you know what you’re doing to me?’

‘I think so.’ His cock was a hard denim covered ridge behind her, pressing into the top of her ass and her lower back; she leaned back harder into him, wriggling a little and making his breath catch, ‘and you’re doing it to me too…’

‘Shit…’, one of his arms held her tight against him while the other stroked down her belly to cup her pussy, his big fingers slipping between her legs and through the wet folds, brushing softly over her clit, one finger slipping inside her, sliding in and out… 

A long, low moan escaped her lips. 

He slid his hand back from her pussy, over her hip and spread it down over the cheek of her ass, his fingers gripping the springy flesh. ‘Do you want to get in?’ his breath stirred the tiny hairs inside her ear, sending goose bumps cascading down her arms. 

She turned her head round, tilting it up so she could reach his lips, smiling against them. ‘Will you do my back?’ Her clit was pulsing and shining rivers of excitement were running up and down her body at the thought of him watching her, wanting her.

He chuckled, low in his throat. ’I’ll do whatever you want me to, Charlie.’

She gently pulled away from him, his hands reluctantly letting her go, the rough skin of his fingers catching her flesh, then she lifted one leg into the bath, the hot water rising up over her skin like heaven itself, making her shiver. She held on to the thigh high enamel rim with one hand and lifted her other leg in, standing upright in glorious hotness. 

Bass handed her a small jug and a ball of soap. ’Here, it’s olive oil, goats milk and lavender, a woman in Stonnington makes it.’

Charlie sniffed it, her eyes holding his, ’mmm, it’s nice.’ She dropped the soap onto a flat part of the bath rim, filled the jug, stood and faced him then poured the hot water down over her front. It felt so good flowing over her skin that she moaned again, her eyes drifting closed. She filled the jug again, this time pouring the water over her shoulder so it ran down her back and butt, trickling between the cheeks of her ass and down her long, strong legs. In a daze of pleasure, she got another jug full, swapped hands and poured it down her other side. 

Bass stared, her body was glistening in the light of the lamps, every curve outlined, light and shadow making her look like something out of one of his fever dreams and the tension coiled in his body like the build up to lightening, the adrenalin built up from the day focused on this moment and on her.

She put the jug down on a shelf near the bath and picked up the soap, running it over her breasts, leaving a trail of light suds and bubbles behind, watching him watching her. 

He licked his lips, standing statue still, eyes blown to dark.

Charlie let her hands roam over her breasts, pinching her nipples until they pebbled, tingling as ripples of water trickled down her belly. Doing this for him was an incredible feeling, and seeing the effect just watching her was having on him made her feel powerful, sensual, totally female. 

His eyes were hot, glazed, and heavy on her, his hand hovering over the ridge of his cock as she slid the soap further down and over her belly down to the curls between her legs, his lips slightly open, the tip of his tongue just visible between them. 

Her smile turned into a wicked grin as she slowly swept the soap back up her body in little circles to run it over her breasts.

Bass shook his head, his laughing electric eyes promising payback. ’Tease.’ He flipped open the buttons on his jeans, kicked off his boots, shrugged off his shirt and tee and stood there for a moment, curls and scruff gold in the lamplight, the lines of cheekbone and jaw all male beauty, the heavy muscles of his chest and abdomen taut, the tight planes of his belly rising and falling with his quickened breath. His shoulders were wide and strong, arms ridged, every muscle defined. The mud stained jeans had caught on the heavy bulge below his hips, almost, but just not quite fallen low enough for her to see all of him…

Charlie held his gaze, her eyes glinting, then swept the soap down low again, this time running it between her legs and back again, the slippery friction of the soap against her clit making her gasp, her eyes snapping shut, thighs clenching tight to keep her upright, her teeth chewing at her lower lip as her free hand grabbed for the edge of the bath. God…

‘Fuck, Charlie,’ he kicked off his jeans and strode over to her, looming, his eyes intent and gleaming out of the shadows of his face, ‘you’re killing me.’ He swung up into the bath behind her and his arms slid around her waist, ‘give me the soap.’ 

She handed it to him, nearly falling as it slipped out of her hand into the water. 

He ducked to catch it, his other hand gripping her waist, catching her as water splashed around her legs and onto his face and he laughed, spluttering, wiping his eyes with a forearm and running the soap up over her belly and breasts, covering her in sweet smelling bubbles. 

She shrieked, laughing and groping for the sides trying to stay upright. 

He turned his attention to her back, his other arm wrapped around her, holding her up, then he rubbed the soap over the flat planes of her shoulder blades, down along her spine and over her buttocks, slipping the soap and his fingers deep between her cleft, lathering her there until a thick layer of froth made her slippery and so horny that she felt that she would burst if he didn’t fuck her soon. 

She could feel his heavy cock behind her, hard and ready, swinging with his movements, a promise against her thighs. ‘Bass?’

He laughed low in his chest, ’nearly finished, sit down and I’ll do your hair.’

She moaned, circling her ass against the velvet hardness of his cock, winding her arms around his neck, ‘don’t want to wait that long…’ 

He sucked in a breath, holding very still for a moment, his breath hot against the back of her neck. ‘Me either.’ He dropped the soap back on the edge of the bath and reached down, one hand sliding the delicious thickness of his cock in between the cheeks of her ass, the other slipping down her front, his fingers slipping between her pussy lips, over her clit, pulling her closer, the hair on his legs and chest rough against hers, the slippery heat of his body surrounding her.

‘Lean over and hold on to the edges of the bath, Charlie, ’ his voice was hoarse, low, impatient.

She did what he said, the rolled edges hard under her palms, anticipation roiling in her stomach, breath coming in frantic panting gasps. 

He rubbed himself between her legs, the angle letting him almost, almost slide inside her and then slipped on past, sliding over her clit then pulling back and starting over until she was nearly screaming with wanting him, her whole body writhing in desperate need… 

He laughed, a low, satisfied and completely, utterly male sound behind her, keeping his cock moving backwards and forwards in small, teasing movements between the cheeks of her ass while the hand not moving between her legs from the front, rubbing her clit, slid up along her side to caress her breasts, fingers sliding over one then the other, his thumb and forefingers pinching her nipples until they buzzed and stood buttoned out.

Charlie was completely lost in sensation, every part of her wet and ready, her clit throbbing and pulsing so hard that she was panting in time with it and when he finally slid into her, his wide cock stretching her out and filling her up, again and again and again she screamed out her pleasure, her hands frantic on the sides of the bath, trying to keep herself upright while he plunged in and out of her, his tall body bent over hers, her ass lifted as high as she could to get as much of him as she could, the bathwater splashing around them and erupting in sparkling geysers onto the flagstone floor…

The two kittens, curled up together in a black and white and ginger pile on the chair nearest the warmth of the range, looked up, watching the humans in the room with the remote and benign tolerance of a superior race. 

……………………………………………

Charlie came back to herself slumped on top of Bass who was curved along the bottom of the bath with his knees over one side, his back against the other and his chest and lower body her cushion. Her head was pillowed on his shoulder and her legs curled together over his thighs. 

There was very little water left in the bath. 

She blinked, the smell of roasted chicken that filled the room suddenly registering. ‘Bass?’

‘Hmmm?’

‘Are you hungry?’

His eyes flew open. ’Fuck. The chicken…’ He tried to get up but slid back down further, ‘shit…’ 

Charlie slid with him, her arms and legs tangling with his, both of them too slippery to get any good holds on the sides of the bath or on each other. 

‘Charlie… oh, dammit… Stay still for a minute, ok?’Please?

Charlie couldn’t speak, laughing so much she was totally helpless.  
But somehow they both made it out of the bath, wrapping themselves up in the towelling robes Bass had rescued from one of the houses on the island, clean and smelling of soap rather than hillside…

Charlie sighed and leaned back in her chair, sucking the end of a wing bone. The roast had been amazing. She hadn’t felt this full and generally all over good in… Well she couldn’t actually remember ever feeling this full and this good at the same time. ‘I could get used to living like this.’

Bass looked up from cleaning scraps from the chicken carcass for the two eager felines wrapping themselves around his ankles in a kind of purring Mobius strip cat dance of anticipation. ‘Yeah, me too.’ He licked his fingers, ‘I reckon we’ve got a couple of weeks, maybe a little more? And then someone somewhere will figure out that they’re down a troop of losers and come over here looking for them.’

Charlie leaned forward, ’Bass, I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I led them here.’

He looked over the table at her, his eyes clear blue, the lamplight playing with the water darkened curls of his hair and beard, making the ends glitter gold, ’hey, don’t be sorry.’ He piled the scraps onto two plates then bent to put them on the floor. 

The cats fell on the food as though they were starving… 

’Someone was bound to find me sooner or later, I’m just glad it was you.’ He came round the table, sitting on the chair next to her then leaned over, kissing her with a sweetness that brought bright tears to her eyes. He wiped them away with a finger. ’Don’t, Charlie, it’s ok. We’ll make the best of things while we can and just get ready to leave in a hurry if we have to, there’s plenty of other places to go.’ He looked down, ’that is, unless you want to go sooner?’

She smiled, leaning into his hand, understanding more of his insecurity now, knew that he was just making sure that she still wanted him, giving her an out in case she didn’t. ‘Bass, I don’t want to go sooner, I want to stay here, with you, and if we have to go, we’ll both go.’

His eyes lit up and he nodded. ’Good, that’s good.’ Then he took a deep breath, ’I don’t know what the Patriots are planning, I do know that I’ve got a bad feeling about them though, there’re more of them all the time and they’re everywhere.’ He took her hand, bringing it to his lips and kissing the fingers. ’This time we got lucky, next time?’ He glanced at the map of the island and the bay, folded neatly at the end of the table. ‘Next time they’ll send some real soldiers.’

Charlie frowned. ’You’re sure?’

He nodded. ’Oh yeah. If they’re serious about taking over they can’t afford to have people just offing their troops without some serious payback.’

Charlie sighed, ’Ok… then I need to show you something.’ She slipped her hand out of his and stood up, going over to the jacket hanging up just outside the door and getting the bounty sheet out of the inside pocket then came back into the kitchen, unfolding it as she went. 

Bass looked at the paper, then met her eyes, ‘what is it?’ 

She sat down on her chair again and spread the sheet out on the table, bringing one of the lamps closer so he could see. ‘What do you think they want with my mom?’

‘Shit…’ His eyes went a hard, shadowed blue as he looked closer, ’that prick, Randall Flynn. He was your Mom’s boss at the DoD wasn’t he?’

She nodded.

‘He wore a ring with that symbol on it,’ his finger stabbed the bottom corner of the sheet, ‘see? and the Patriots set off the bombs to wipe out the Republic and Georgia, so of course they know about Rachael.’ He got up, pacing around the room. ’But why do they want her now? The power’s gone for good isn’t it?’ He turned back to her. ’Charlie, is Aaron Pittman still with your Mom?’ 

She nodded again. ’He was when I left, and Miles too.’ She took a deep breath, ‘They’re all in Texas, in Willoughby, with my Grandpa, at least they were a few months ago. Mom was really sick, you know, after the Tower and the bombs… and we, I mean, Miles thought that Grandpa could help her.’

He stopped pacing. ’They’re in Texas? Texas is big…strong.’ He came back over to the table, ‘They should be ok there, at least for a while, long as they stay away from Carver and Blanchard.’ The shadow of a grin curved his lips, ‘Blanchard can really hold a grudge and Miles tried to kill him once…’

‘He did?’ 

He sat down, taking her hand again. ’Yeah, he did. But that doesn’t matter now. Listen to me Charlie, the Patriots would have to be very, very, sure of themselves to take on something like Texas, so your Mom should be ok, especially if she’s got Miles, and your Grandpa.’ He brought his other hand up, cradling hers in both of his. ’And I’m sorry to hear that Rachael was sick too. Things were always… difficult, between her and me, but I’m sorry for your sake.’

Charlie found herself tearing up again. Things were always difficult between her and her Mom too, but she had still found it very hard to deal with seeing her the way she was after the Tower. ’Thanks.’ 

Bass studied the poster, ’I wish there was a way of sending a message though, some way of warning them.’ He let go of her, his fingers tapping restlessly on the table top. ‘I’d heard that Texas had started up something like the old Pony express, if we could get to the Texas border I could maybe get something through to Miles or better still, your grandpa, that’d keep Miles’ name out of it…’

Charlie frowned. ’What’s the pony express?’

He grinned, ‘Texas has put together teams of riders and people pay the riders to take messages between towns.’

Her eyebrows rose. ’Oh, that sounds great…’

Bass watched her intently. ’Charlie, Texas is weeks away by wagon or on horseback, but it’s only about half that if we go by sea.’

She stared at him, memories of her own brief experience as a sailor far from good ones. ‘We’d have to go past Philadelphia, Bass, I’ve heard it isn't safe, people get sick just breathing the air.’

He nodded, eyes haunted. ’Yeah, I know, so I think we should talk to Jake first, see if he has any ideas? We could tell him we’re looking for your family, he’d be fine with that, he’ll be expecting us to head out soon anyway, after what happened today.’

Charlie thought it through. If they had to leave the island soon anyway, they might as well do something worthwhile like warn her mom, and Miles. Maybe they could come back afterwards. She made up her mind. ’Ok, let’s talk to Jake tomorrow, we’re going over for dinner anyway.’ She got up and stood in front of him, bent down to put her hands on his shoulders and leaned in to kiss him, long and deep. ’I want to do something else tonight…’

He laughed, pulling her onto his lap, ’you’re reading my mail.’

……………………………………………….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thanks for coming back again :) hope to see you at the next chapter… cheers, Magpie


	8. Beachhead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note: Thanks so much again for reading and coming back :) you are awesome.

It was lunchtime and the warm late summer sun was shining in through the wide sash windows on the seaward side of Jake’s house in Stonington. Through the sparkling windows, there was a picture postcard view of the harbour with its brightly painted boats swaying at their mooring. It looked like the whole town was crowding around the market stalls lined up along the crescent shaped main street that edged the beach and there were seagulls swooping and soaring between the high cliffs above the town that guarded the bay and the busy seashore esplanade, crowded with wagons, horses and bicycles. Further out still was the wide blue grey green of the ocean with its distant hazy glimpses of the islands of Penobscot Bay.

It looked prosperous and beautiful, as though here the blackout didn’t matter…

Charlie sat back on her chair and sighed, totally, wonderfully full again although this time it was lobster and potatoes fried in duck fat with steamed greens on the side, followed by two big slices of a glorious blueberry pie served with clotted cream. She held up a hand to prevent another slice landing on her plate, admitting defeat. ’Rosie, I swear that was the best pie I’ve ever eaten, but if I have any more right now I’ll explode.’ Eyes dancing, she looked over at Jake, who was sitting at the other end of the table smiling proudly at the praise for his wife’s cooking. ‘And I don’t know how Jake isn’t the size of a house if you eat like this all the time.’

Rosie, a pretty, dark haired, slender and energetic woman in her late forties, smiled back, her dark eyes crinkling at the corners. ’Why thank you, Charlie. I like to cook and Jake and the boys seem to like eating so we’re all happy.’

Bass leaned forward, wearing his most charming grin; his eyes a gleaming, startling blue, ’I would love another piece of that pie, Rosie, if it’ll help make you happy?’

Charlie kicked him under the table. ’Hey, you’ve had three pieces already.’

He looked pained. ’I’m just helping out here Charlie, it’d be a damn shame not to have another piece of a pie as good as that.’

Rosie laughed, a slight blush colouring her cheeks. ’It is a good pie, even if I do say so myself.‘ She reached over for the plate he was holding out in hopes, heaped it with another slice and turned her smiling gaze on Charlie. ‘We had a wonderful harvest last year and I’ve got lots of goodies put away in jars in the larder, fine flour’s the hard thing to get though,’ she turned to her husband, ‘When’s Hannah planning to get the mill going again, Jake?’ 

Jake swallowed a mouthful. ‘She said the other day that it’d be another couple of months before everything was back up and running thanks to those Patriot bastards’ He looked over at Bass, his dark eyes hard and angry. ’A bunch of them came through here a couple of months ago, recruiting.’ He picked up his glass, drained it then put it down again with a thump. ’At least that’s what they called it anyway. Didn’t give no one no choice though.’ 

He poured himself another glass of the potent local vodka he’d brought out to go with the meal, then stared out the window. ’Damn ingrates went marching up to the Mill, took Hannah’s three eldest kids, and wrecked the place when she tried to stop them. Then they raided three more homesteads, took half a dozen other kids then headed off before any of us here in town could get there to help.’ He sighed, ’we don’t know where they took the kids and no one’s heard from any of them since.’

Charlie felt his frustration and anger and when she looked over at Bass and met his eyes, they were the icy blue of glaciers.

He turned to Jake. ‘What happened when you went looking?’

Rosie sat down next to Jake and poured herself a drink. ’Jake and some of the others went after them but lost the trail after a week.’

Jake nodded. ‘Bastards met up with a bigger band then they split up, weren’t enough of us to follow and we couldn’t do anything against so many of them’ he shook his head, ’didn’t know what we could’ve done anyway, none of us are trained soldiers.’

Rosie put a hand on his arm and squeezed, her eyes sad. ’You tried Hon.’ She took a long, deep breath. ‘Hannah wrote some letters to that man who calls himself President, what's his name?… Davis? Asking about the kids. Sent the letters down with one of the trading wagons heading towards Washington.’ She snorted and took a sip from her glass, then swirled the colourless liquid around before draining the rest. ’Seems like this Davis has gone and got himself nicely settled in the White House…thinks that he’s the real President, although no one I know elected him.’ She blew out a breath. ’Anyway, Hannah hasn’t heard anything back yet, but we’ve heard some rumours, bad ones, of training camps where they keep kids,’ she shook her head and looked across the table at Bass and Charlie. ’But no one knows where they are exactly or which one of them our kids would be at, and frankly we don’t know what else we can do. At least for the moment.’ She glanced back at her husband, 'things could change...'

Jake leaned back in his chair, the wooden feet of the chair scraping on the flagstone floor. ’But you’ll understand why the Patriots are pretty unpopular around these parts, Jimmy. And why I was more than happy to help your friend out when that little troop of khaki coloured misfits came looking for him.’ He looked at Bass, his eyes steady and calm.

Bass nodded, he understood Jake keeping the fact to himself that it was him they were after, it would be some protection for Rosie if anyone else came asking. ’I know he’d want me to thank you Jake and if there’s anything I can do to repay you on his behalf, you only have to ask.’

The other man nodded approvingly and raised his glass again. ’Good neighbours are a fine thing to have, Jimmy, and we try to look out for each other up here.’ He cleared his throat, ‘as a matter of fact, there’s something I want to talk to you about, because you are a good neighbour.’ He leaned forward, the broad, work roughened fingers of one hand absently straightening his placemat. ‘I think you know that I’m Mayor of this town, and, well, me and the town council have been talking a little, and we’re wondering if maybe you’d consider working for the town, you not minding being on your own and all’ he tipped the glass towards Charlie, his eyes twinkling, ’well…alone until recently that is.’ 

Charlie felt her cheeks colour up… 

He smiled at her, his dark eyes kind. Then turned to face Bass again. ’And seeing as how you’re out there on the island anyway, we were wondering if you’d think about taking over the running of the lighthouse?’ He sat up straight, elbows on the table, his craggy, weather-beaten face still handsome, muscular frame reassuring and solid in thick hand knitted jumper. ’It would be a great benefit to all of us around here. We could stay out later, sail safer in rough weather.’ He glanced across at Rosie who smiled and nodded, then turned back to Bass. ‘I figure we can set up an oil burner the way they used to in the old days. And we can pay you a decent wage too, the job’s worth good money to us.’

Bass looked pleased, then hesitated, ’That’s a great offer, Jake.’

He felt Charlie’s foot nudge him under the table and then she was looking right at him, her eyes wide, and he didn’t quite dare to dream it but she almost seemed hopeful? And damn if he wasn’t tempted right then and there to say yes, but… 

He sucked a breath in and turned back to Jake. ‘I think the Patriots are going to keep looking for my friend, and this time they’ll send more troops this way though, real ones this time, not the idiots that came this time.’ He caught up Charlie’s hand, stroking the back with his thumb. ‘Charlie’s got some family down in Texas, and we thought we’d head down there and try to find them.’ 

He felt Charlie’s hand tense in his but he ploughed on, ’do you think it’s possible to get there by sea? It’d be a hell of a lot quicker than a wagon.’

Jake whistled softly through his teeth, his brows knotted together, then he glanced at Rosie.

She frowned, lips tight and shook her head.

He sipped at his glass, then sniffed, looking down at the table. ’It’s hard to say for sure, Jimmy. No one I know of round here sails anywhere near Philly these days, from this side anyway.’ He looked up at them again, the lines around his eyes and mouth deep and harsh, ‘It’s too soon after the bombs, the fallout’s real bad, unpredictable, blown by the wind. There’s dead stuff still floating up, birds won’t even fly there and you’d have to go a hell of a long way out into deep water to have a chance of going round it, besides the weather’s getting worse by the day too with winter coming.’ He glanced at Rosie again.

She nodded. ’The trip overland would take you months, and isn’t what I’d call safe…but I think you’d be much better off going that way, if you’ve gotta go, but I have to say we’d all be sorry to see you leave, both of you. You seem like really good people - and having someone at the lighthouse would be so good for everyone round here.’ She smiled at Bass, her eyes gentle. ’I heard what you did for the folks that passed away on the island all those years ago too. It was real nice of you, burying them and finding out their names and all.’

Charlie glanced up at Bass but didn’t say anything. She’d wondered about the new graves in the churchyard, all with fresh flowers….

He was quiet for a moment, then his fingers tightened on hers and he searched for her eyes, asking ‘Thank you, Jake, Rosie. We’ll talk about it, and let you know as soon as we can.’ He grinned, ’that lighthouse gig does sound pretty tempting though.’

Jake smiled, a slow, wise smile. ’Glad you think so.’ He reached over the table and picked up the bottle of vodka, pouring another measure out for each of them. ‘Because just between you me and the gatepost, I don’t think we need to worry too much about those Patriot bastards organising themselves to come all the way up here again after your friend, or stealing more of our kids. Not for much longer anyway. But it’s funny you should mention Texas.’ He took a sip from his glass and tipped it towards Bass, who was watching intently, ’The way I hear it, and I’m inclined to believe what I hear after seeing the rabble that supposedly came to capture your friend’ he winked, eyes wicked,’ the damn khaki bastards are going to be much too busy to bother much about a few missing soldiers or your friend, no matter who he happens to be.’ 

Bass narrowed his eyes, curious. ’What do you mean?’

Jake drained his glass, thumping it down on the table top. ’I mean a few weeks ago Texas declared war on the Patriots, that’s what I mean.’ He grinned, ’and you want to know what else?’ 

Charlie nodded, her eyes wide. 

‘Go on,’ Bass was impatient…

Jake leaned towards them over the table. ’Texas have got Miles Matheson fighting for ‘em. General fucking Matheson himself, and they’re whomping Patriots left right and centre. 

‘Miles Matheson?’ Charlie sat up straight.

He nodded, ‘Damn straight. And they’ve got people from all around lining up to join in too.’ He scraped his chair back and got up from the table, hurrying over to a packed bookshelf against the back wall. ’I’ll show you, news just arrived this morning, they've got riders going around, spreading the word.’ He was sorting through a pile of papers stacked on a middle shelf, pushing some to the side, leaving others where they fell. ’Where is it now?’ He made a satisfied sound and turned back to the table, a sheaf of folded papers in his hand. ’Here you go.’ He dropped a slim sheet of folded, roughly printed newsprint down with a flourish on the table in front of Bass and Charlie.

Charlie grabbed it and straightened the paper out, her eyes gleaming. ’Texas declares war on Patriot menace’ she read it aloud, excitement making her voice rise. She grinned at Bass then carried on reading. ’General Blanchard, new…’ 

Bass did a double take and tried to take the paper away from her. ’Blanchard? That randy old goat? What happened to Carver?’

Charlie held it away from him, frowning, ’Hey, be careful, you’ll tear it. I’ll tell you what happened if you let me finish.’ 

Bass sat back in his seat, a little disgruntled and Charlie smirked, neither of them noticing the look of amused tolerance that passed between Jake and Rosie. 

She flattened the pages again and cleared her throat. ’General Blanchard, newly elected President of the Sovereign state of Texas following the brutal assassination of the late, great General Carver by Patriot spies, swears to hang the imposter Jack Davis from his own flagpole.’ She turned the page over and sat for a moment, looking at the photo printed at the top, then kept reading, her voice gone quiet. ’President Blanchard has appointed General Miles Matheson, pictured above…’ Charlie reached out a finger and gently traced round the familiar, dark, angular face, then looked up at Bass, her eyes bright, holding the paper out to him, ‘will you read the rest of it?’ 

‘Yeah,’ he took the leaflet in one hand, the other going round her shoulders.

She took a deep breath and leaned against him, relief that Miles was ok, that he was more than ok making her feel a little light headed.

Bass read on, his voice clear and confident, ’President Blanchard has appointed General Miles Matheson, pictured above,’ he paused and grinned at the picture, ’still looks like he’s got a stick up his ass.’ 

Charlie poked her elbow in his ribs… 

He chuckled, ’President Blanchard has appointed General Miles Matheson as Commanding General of the Texas forces following the exoneration of both General Matheson and General Sebastian Monroe,’ an eyebrow went up, ‘formally of the Monroe Republic, from any blame in regards to the heinous bombing of Atlanta and Philadelphia, now known to have been orchestrated by the enemy led by the pretender Jack Davis.’ he threw the paper down on the table, shaking his head, a smile spreading over his face. ’Well, if that doesn’t take the cake.’

Jake had his arm around Rosie, both wearing identical smiles.

Charlie turned blazing eyes up to Bass, a triumphant grin curving her lips, ‘what else does it say?’

He picked the paper back up and continued reading. ’Texas forces have so far driven Patriot troops northwards as far as Chicago, ably assisted by surviving forces from both Georgia and the Monroe Republic along with our new allies from Mexico and California in a united effort’ He laughed, ’I don’t fucking believe it. Blanchard’s got them all fighting the patriots instead of each other, how the hell did he do that?’ He kept reading. ’Our united forces are utilising new technology developed by scientists loyal to the cause of freedom with great success. This new technology exposes and immobilises Patriot sympathisers, greatly reducing casualties.’ 

He glanced at Charlie.

She looked surprised and just a little wary, 'wow?' 

He went on. ’Plans are currently underway to advance on and liberate Washington itself. More news to follow as it comes in.’ Bass put the paper down again. ’I don’t know how, but they’ve done it, incredible.’ He sat for a moment, then looked at Jake, his eyes serious.’ Its great news, Jake, the best, but there’s bound to be deserters and some of them could be heading this way.’

The older man nodded. ’We figured that too, in fact I wouldn’t be surprised if our recent visitors weren’t some of them.’ He let go of Rosie and came back to the table, leaning on the edge. ‘And from what I saw yesterday you both know what you’re doing in a fight – so if you do decide to take the job at the lighthouse, I was hoping you might help us set up some defensive plans and give us some training so we’ll have a bit more of a fighting chance?’ He looked from Bass to Charlie, ’we could pay you for that too.’

Rosie smiled, encouraging, ‘I’m sure we could get a message through to your folks, Charlie, make sure they're ok?’

Bass looked at Charlie, the question in his eyes.

She nodded, still amazed by what they’d read, at knowing that Miles was ok and that her mom and the others were too, because who else could the scientists they’d mentioned be? ’It sounds like things really are getting better doesn't it, and I’d be happy to stay and help,’ she glanced at Bass again, ‘that is, if Jimmy does too?’

He took her hand, brought it to his lips and kissed her fingers, his eyes full of promises. ’Charlie, you’re amazing.’ He looked back at Jake and Rosie, ‘I came here looking for somewhere to hide from the world and I found peace and friendship and something I’d almost stopped believing in.’ He took a deep breath, ‘I didn't want to go, but I thought we had to. Now?’ He glanced at the paper on the table, the photo of Miles was facing up and he grinned, ‘now it’s different.’ The smile got wider, making him look young and almost carefree, ‘so I guess we’ll be staying, and yes I’d be happy to train with you, and to work the lighthouse.’ He sat back in his chair, pulling Charlie back into his arms, ‘Charlie can certify that I spend a lot of time watching the bay anyway, might as well get paid for doing it.’

She laughed, lacing her fingers through his, ‘so does this mean I can name the pigs?

……………………………………………..

By the time Bass and Charlie got back to the island the light was fading towards dusk and it was a race to get the boat secured, make the trek back to the house from Duck Harbor and take care of the animals before full dark set in. But eventually they finished everything and were back in the now familiar warm kitchen, eating fried eggs with some real bread and fresh butter from the mainland. Rosie had given them the rest of the blueberry pie to take with them too, a good third of it left from lunch, and Charlie was sitting at the table next to Bass, finishing her second slice, yawning and barely able to keep her eyes open.

The cats were curled up together asleep near the range after having accepted and inhaled some lobster scraps that Bass had brought back for them.

He was just eyeing off the last, small piece of pie.

Charlie chuckled, ’if you eat any more you’ll turn blue and get fat.’

He laughed, the sound soft and rich in the warm air. ’Would you mind?’

‘No, I like blue…’ She yawned again and stretched, then turned and gave him a sultry smile. ‘And I can think of a few ways to stop you getting fat.’

Bass grinned and reached out for the pie. ’Well that’s ok then.’ He took a bite, swallowed. ’Did you know that Miles tried to have Blanchard killed once? And Blanchard knew he did too.’ He held the slice up for a moment, looking at a blueberry hanging on the edge. He licked it off… ’I’d give a lot to know how he suddenly became his right hand man.’

Charlie yawned again, ‘I didn’t know, Miles doesn’t talk much about stuff like that. I’m just glad we don’t have to leave. I love it here, Bass.’ She frowned a little, ‘but I would like to know what Mom and Aaron invented this time, just in case something worse than the blackout happens.’

Bass finished the slice of pie, licked his fingers and stretched out the other hand to rub her shoulder. ‘Well nothing’s happened yet, and as long as they keep fucking up the Patriots and don’t turn all the world’s whisky into water I couldn’t give a shit what their little robots are doing. I guess we’ll find out after they get to Washington and the states get all reunited’

She took a sip of the herbal tea Rosie had also given them, ’You’ve been cleared, Bass. You could go back now, be a General again, I bet they’d be glad to have you back.’

He lifted an eyebrow ‘is this a test or something?

She looked towards him, her eyes shadowed, ’I was just wondering…’

He stood up and came up behind her, his arms sliding around and holding her close against him. ‘I’ve found out what makes me happy, Charlie, and believe me it isn’t being a General. ’But are you sure you’re happy about staying here with me?’

She twisted round, stretched her arms up around his neck and ran her fingers through his salt stiffened curls, looking into his blue, blue eyes. ‘Miles and my Mom are doing fine without any help from me, the Patriots are going to be too busy to come searching for you and even if they do, we’ve got friends now, and a job, and a whole island to hide in if we have to. The only problem I can see is that I’m going to have to remember to call you Jimmy.’ She pulled his head down so she could reach his lips. ‘So yeah, I’m sure.’ 

He closed the last little bit of distance between them, his breath warm and scented with pie, ’I’m glad about that, because I know I love you being here…’

She smiled against his mouth, his scruff tickling the sensitive flesh around her lips, then pulled back a little. ‘Hey… Jake and the guys aren’t coming to get the light sorted out till the day after tomorrow, so we’ve got the whole of tomorrow to ourselves. We could go for a picnic on the beach?’ She yawned again. ’But right now I would really, really like to go to bed.’

He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. ’Sounds good to me.’ He lifted her up into his arms and carried her out of the kitchen, down the hall and up the stairs to the moonlit room that had somehow become theirs. 

………………………………………………..

The next day, a couple of hours after dawn the morning was crisp and sunny with the promise of warm breezes. A few small white clouds were hovering on the horizon under a clear blue sky and a light swell sent white horses dancing onto the shore as Bass and Charlie made their way down from the tunnel below the house to the same little beach where Bass had found her washed up like flotsam after the storm and everything had changed.

Bass set out a blanket under a horseshoe of large boulders on one of the small ribbons of sand dotted between long stretches of rocks, pebbles, shells and seaweed brought up by the tide. Sheltered from the wind, the sand was warming up with the sun and the air was full of the smell of the sea.

Charlie bent and put their breakfast basket down next to the blanket, then stretched her arms out wide and took a deep, delicious breath of the salt air. ’This is so good…’ Her words were carried out into the wind as she spun around and went running at a flock of seagulls searching for tidbits at the waters edge, startling them into noisy and indignant flight. Then she turned and ran back up the beach, bare feet sinking into the sand, and dropped panting to her knees on the blanket, her eyes bright and wearing a grin a mile wide, ‘I’m hungry.’ 

Bass lay back on the blanket, watching her, an answering smile curving his lips and crinkling the corners of his eyes as she fell into his arms, ‘you’re always hungry.’

‘I don’t know what it is, maybe its all the great food…’ She kissed him then sat up, opening the basket and getting things out. Breakfast was the rest of the bread from the day before with butter and soft-boiled eggs gathered fresh that morning along with some peas and leafy greens from the garden and a couple of bottles of home brewed beer from the mainland. It was delicious too, and for a while they ate in the kind of comfortable silence that doesn’t need words.

Afterwards, Charlie leaning back against the muscled warmth of his chest watching the waves come in and go out. It was peaceful but at the same time full of a rhythm and energy that was exhilarating and hugely powerful. She leaned her head back to find Bass gazing down at her, his eyes like pieces of the sky. She smiled up at him. ‘Feel like a swim?’

He eased her back down onto the blanket, running his fingers along the soft skin of her neck and down the front of her tank top, ’mmn… We’ll have to go skinny.’

She licked her lips ‘So? There’s no one around but the seagulls.’ She reached up, brought his head down for a long, lazy kiss, his lips tasting of salt and sand, his skin of clean, male sweat. The sun was hot now and the air around them was thick with salt spray and a sun bright dazzle so bright there were colours dancing even with her eyes shut… 

A gull swooped over them, almost close enough to touch, its wings whirring as it saw them and braked, flying off with an irritated squark… 

She laughed and sat up, her fingers running through the soft hair of his scruff, then slipped her shirt off, dropping it on the sand, kicking her boots and socks off. Her tank top was next but she took that off slowly, watching Bass watching her, his eyes starting to burn, intense, darkening. She wasn’t wearing a bra so as the top passed over her nipples she did a little shimmy, making them dance, before pulling the top the rest of the way over her head, flicking her hair back to get it out of the straps.

Bass laughed, a low happy sound, then licked his fingers, reaching across to run them over her nipples, the wetness making them tremble and pucker to peaks as the wind touched them.

She shivered, loving the tingle, licking her lips. ’Your turn.’

He curled up onto his knees and took off his shirt, the tee underneath tight enough to outline the taut, heavy muscles underneath.

Charlie leaned forward, keeping his eyes on hers and caught the hem of his tee, sliding the fabric upwards over his chest, smoothing his arms upwards and rubbing herself along the smooth flesh of his chest until his arms were stretched above her and her lips were level with his. She pressed the lightest of kisses on his mouth then stood up in one lithe movement taking the tee with her. 

He brought his arms down and circled her waist, pulling her close, breathing in the scent of her warm body mixed with the salt spray in the wind, finding her belly button and kissing his way around it.

She moaned and laughed at the same time, her stomach muscles clenching and clit pulsing, knees going weak, hands gripping his shoulders to stay upright. 

Flipping open the buttons of her jeans, he quickly slid the worn fabric down over her rounded hips and smooth thighs, finding her bare underneath. He stared for a moment and a breath came out as a kind of inarticulate groan, ‘God, you’re beautiful…’

‘Hurry up, Bass…’ she lifted one foot then the other, her jeans falling into a small tumbled pile at her feet, her hair falling around her shoulders and down to her waist in a sunlit golden tangle, ‘your pants next…’ 

He looked up at her and rubbed his scruff against the sensitive skin of her belly, his lips cool against her warm skin. 

She shivered as goosebumps ran up and down her arms, excitement pooling between her legs.

Bass reached further up, pressing kisses to the underside of each breast, ‘you look like a mermaid.’ He stood up, cock straining at the front of his jeans.

Charlie ran her fingers up and down the hard length of him, pressing close and squeezing for a moment, then she let go, turned and ran backwards down the sand towards the waves, her eyes gleaming blue, hair flying and her voice coming back to him on the wind. ’Come on, I’ll race you in.’

‘Shit, not fair…’ he was groaning and laughed at the same time as he stripped off his pants and ran after her, catching up with her fast with his longer strides, joining her in splashing through the sandy shallows into the deeper water and diving into the white topped waves, catching glimpses of her long legs, slanted blue eyes and honey gold hair through liquid blue, white and sea green as she swam around him, catching hold of her wet, sea cold body and having her slip, laughing and spluttering out of his arms then diving back in again as he chased her through the water…

Charlie pounced as he appeared like some sea god surging out of the waves in front of her, wrapping her arms around his neck, his wide smile and bright blue eyes, wild wet curls and tall, wet, muscled body hard and slippery against her, the hair on his body rough like seaweed against her skin, his cock, hard and velvety seeking her out like some curious sea creature. 

He lifted her higher, her legs circling his hips, arms sliding off his shoulders but hands gripping harder while he walked them both back up through the shallows, her laughing face close to his, her lips finding his in a slippery, salty kiss. 

He fell to his knees with her still in his arms when he reached the littoral and dropped her back against the sand before flopping down next to her, out of breath, laughing at the feel of the sea trying to drag them back in then pushing them up again with the next wave.

Charlie lay there, gasping, the sand like a million little fingers pulling at her skin, 

Bass ran his hand down over her breasts, down her belly and between her legs, his fingers finding her hot and sweet, wet and slippery.

She spread her legs for him, her own hand going down to join his, her fingers lacing through his and feeling her own wet heat. He was looking down at her, his eyes so intense that she thought she could drown in them, his body arching over hers like a wet dream…

’From here to eternity, Charlie.’ 

She gazed up at him, ’that’s beautiful, Bass.’

He kissed her then drew back a little, his breath sweet and warm on her face. ’It’s from an old movie, but I never knew what it meant ‘til now.’ Then the thick head of his cock was at her entrance, hot and hard and thick.

Charlie tipped her hips to let him in, wrapped her legs round him and felt him surge deep into her, stretching her out around his thick length in a delicious rush of sensation, the waves pushing him further in, sweeping them together up through the sand until it felt like the earth was turning beneath them, holding them there for an endless moment while the sea held its breath. 

Then there was the rushing back out, the sand rustling and bubbling beneath the skin of back and ass, pulling them back into the sea with gentle inexorable fingers, trailing her hair behind them like strands of golden sea weed. 

Charlie let her arms fall above her head, her eyes half closed against the glare of the sun…

Bass lay above her kissing her lips, her cheeks, her neck, his hands roving over her arms, her sides, her breasts as they moved back and forth with the waves. The sun was hot and bright above them, the waves bubbling and hissing through the sand under their bodies, the shallow water warm and flowing over them like a benediction.

Bass began to move faster, increasing the delicious friction between them.

Charlie held him tighter, moving with him, her feet pressing against the firm, thrusting globes of his ass and the long, ridged muscles of his thighs, wavelets splashing in small geysers between their bodies as their own tides rose higher, breath coming in gasps and panting surges as the sea moved them in and out, in and out until she couldn’t tell the difference between their bodies and the sea. It was all one huge, bright sensation…

She felt the change in his rhythm and knew he was close, felt her own orgasm thundering nearer. 

Then he stopped moving, breath fast and heavy, a desperate halt, hands gripping into fists in the sand…

She held onto him, holding him inside, her hands framing his face, ’Bass, don’t stop… stay, if you want to.’

He went very, very still, ’Charlie there isn’t anything I want more, but are you sure? There'll be no going back..’ His eyes burned down into hers, deep as the sea.

The waves seemed to go quiet, or she thought they did. Everything around them seemed to be waiting as she met his gaze with her own. ’I’ve been happier these last few days than I can ever remember being. It feels absolutely right to be here with you, and I want to stay.’ she looked up at him, putting everything into her eyes, trying to show him how much this moment meant. ’You’re a good man Bass, I know that, I’ve seen it. I’ve seen the bad and the good, and the real you is good and strong and kind as well as being a badass.’ Her dimple flashed, her body moving softly under his, ’and I think we'd have really pretty kids.’

His eyes held hers for a long, long moment as bright tears welled in his eyes and spilled over, joining the salt water on his skin. 

She lifted a finger and wiped them away as he leaned down and kissed her, his lips warm and gentle, possessive and full of a passion that made her heart sing. 

He pulled back a little, ’Charlie, whatever I am, it's all yours, I'm alive again because of you...’ He pulled almost out of her then surged all the way back in, the tight globes of his balls soft against her ass and the waves gently rocking them both. His breath was a warm whisper in her ear, ‘where were we?’

Charlie nuzzled his shoulder, moving her hips against him, her clit pulsing and her whole body electric as another wave pushed them even closer together, ‘almost there, Bass...’

………………………………………….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: thanks so much again, there’s a bit more to the story, coming soon… cheers, Magpie.


	9. What the tide brings in...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uthors note: Hi there, and thanks so much for reading – and for some sweet comments and kudos, they mean a whole lot to me. When I first published the story, a couple of lovely people asked about an epilogue, and these last chapters are what happened. I hope you enjoy, Magpie

Two years and nine months later…

‘Mommeee…boat.’ 

‘Over here, sweetheart.’ Charlie looked up from collecting the eggs from the nesting boxes in the chicken coop, face lighting up as she saw her son coming toddling full tilt towards her from the house. 

Bouncing as much as running, Ben had just turned two and everything was full on or full stop. His robust little body was bursting with energy, cheeks pink, blue eyes bright and he was rugged up for the cool autumn air in rolled up jeans, boots and a thick, earth coloured jumper that had been Charlie’s first go at dying and knitting with their own wool.

The kitchen door opened with a thud and Bass burst out of it looking fit and handsome in his old leather jacket and favourite jeans, a huge grin on his face as he ran up behind the small figure, bending to scoop their son up and up onto his shoulders, big hands holding him safe , Ben’s tumbling dark blond curls glowing in the bright morning sun as he crowed in delight, the sound a high, sweet counterpoint to his father’s deeper laugh. 

‘They’re getting close, Charlie, another couple of hours at the most,’ Bass turned his head so he could look up into the bright blue eyes in the shining face above him. ’We saw them through the telescope didn’t we, Ben?’

Ben grabbed a double handful of curls. ’Boat… Skipper, daddy.’ 

‘Okay.’ Bass made a sound like the hoot of a ships fog horn, ‘and you’re steering a course towards mommy and the chickens.’ 

The little boy laughed, ‘chickens.’

Charlie carried the basket of eggs out of the chicken run, balancing her other burden carefully. Bass had rigged up a papoose carrier for their little girl and big, limpid blue eyes blinked up at her out of the wrappings slung around her mom’s shoulders. Charlie reached out a finger and gently wiggled the little button nose in the small, already lovely face. ’Did you hear that? Your granddaddy’s going to be here soon to meet you.’ She caught Bass’ eyes as her two men sailed closer, hers brimming with laughter. ‘Miles is so going to hate being called Granddaddy.’ 

The news that her uncle Miles was actually her real father had hit Charlie between the eyes when she first found out but it somehow seemed to make sense. Bass was always telling her how much she was like him. She still thought of Ben Matheson as her dad though, which was why they named their son Ben, and the idea of calling Miles anything but Miles, just didn’t work for her, although she loved him just as much whatever he was. She was still mad at her mom, although it didn’t make any difference now…

She sighed, somehow Miles had survived the war against the Patriots and the awful Nano stuff, and she was so, so grateful for that.

The Bass and Ben sailing ship reached her harbour at last, Ben balanced high above her, his hands flung high above their heads, a gap toothed grin spreading from ear to ear, ‘Mommee…’ 

Bass swung Ben down to the ground and took the basket of eggs from her hands. ’He’ll just have to cope won’t he, after all he’s the President of the New United States, he’s gonna have to get used to being called much worse than grandad.’ He leaned across to drop a kiss on her lips then down to put another, softer, on Alice’s forehead. ‘Hello to the two most beautiful girls on the island.’

Charlie smiled at her two favourite men in the whole world. ’We’re the only girls on the island until the new settlers arrive, Bass, unless you count the cats and the goats and the pigs, oh and the chickens…’ 

He laughed again, then leaned close, eyes serious blue. ’You’ll always be the most beautiful girl on the island, Charlie, no matter how many of them come.’ His lips found hers in a long, hard kiss. 

One of Alice’s small fists connected hard with his Adams apple.

He coughed and pulled back a little, then recovered, smiling down at his daughter and catching one of the flailing fists in his own big hand. ‘Hey, gently does it, sweet pea, you don’t know your own strength.’

Charlie struggled not to laugh, her lips still sizzling from the kiss… 

Her small, strong fingers circling his thumb, Alice gazed steadily and intently up at him with lovely, innocent blue eyes. Then her full, pink lips parted and she let out one of the ear piercing squeals she’d only just discovered were part of her repertoire. 

He winced, blinking, ‘Ben wasn't that loud, was he?’

‘No, she’s in a league of her own, maybe we could hire her out to Jake as a fog horn?’ Charlie smirked up at him and tucked the little, wriggling form up a bit more firmly in the wrap, making sure the tiny fingers weren’t getting too cold.

He nodded ’Or a drill sergeant.’ He studied the small, lovely and now serenely quiet face, imagining a triumphant gleam in the big blue eyes. ’Miles is gonna love her.’

There was a noise behind them and they both turned at the same time.

Ben had found the pig’s food, upturned the bucket and was stomping on the contents, his sturdy boots splashing gooey stuff satisfyingly everywhere.

Charlie’s mouth dropped open. ’Oh, Ben…’

Bass shook his head, lips twitching but his voice was solemn. ’Ben, buddy, that’s the little pigs breakfast and we only just got you cleaned up to meet all the nice people on the boat.’ He passed the egg basket back to Charlie with a grin and went to retrieve his now filthy son, ‘but I guess we’ve just got time to do it again.’

Charlie watched, her eyes soft as Bass gently but firmly took charge of their little barbarian, first getting him to put the remaining scraps back in the bucket with a little spade and helping him carry it over to the latest crop of eager piglets, then leading him back into the house to wash up again, walking past her on the way, stroking a hand down her hair and dropping a kiss on the top of her head as he went past. 

She smiled, her eyes happy as she followed them inside, kicking off her outside boots in the coat-room just inside the back door and sliding into the comfy deer hide slippers she’d made herself.

Alice was chewing her chubby fists inside her cocoon, an early warning that she was getting hungry so Charlie put her in her crib for a few mintes, shoved the egg basket onto a bench in the kitchen and went to the sink to wash her hands, breasts prickling as her milk got ready to go. 

Bass and Ben were upstairs in Ben’s room, she could hear them, Ben’s light, happy voice and Bass’ low murmur, both music to her ears. 

She wiped her hands, Bass was as good at being a father as he seemed to be at almost everything else. Patient and clever with his mind as well as his hands, he laughed often, did more than his fair share of the dirty work and together, they found ways to do anything they needed to do. He seemed to be getting younger too, the lines etched into his face from years of stress easing. He was healthy and fit, their busy lifestyle keeping him lean and taut muscled. Training and taking his turn with the local militia did too, although he’d shied away from any leadership role, claiming he had too much to do at home.

Which was true, her smile got wider. Running the lighthouse and being part of a family kept him very busy. They had a good life, a happy one and she counted herself very lucky.

A few years ago she’d never have believed that the Sebastian Monroe she thought she knew would be satisfied with the simple life they had made here. But he was, he loved it, loved them. He proved it every minute of every day. She loved their life too, loved him and their babies and it was getting harder to remember the desperate and harsh life she’d lived before this, before she found this island, this community… and him. 

It was going to be wonderful to see Miles again, and Aaron, and the others. But it was a big change and she wasn’t sure what effect it would have on her family’s little paradise. A wave of protectiveness washed over her, it was their island, their own place and she loved it that way.

She took a breath, then went out of the door, leaned on the stair rail and looked up, ’Guys, are you ok?’

‘We’ll be a little bit longer, Charlie, someone needs a wash.’ his voice floated down to her.

‘Ok, I’m just giving Alice a snack,’ She went back in and gazed down at her little papoose. Alice was making her ‘I’m hungry and you’d better feed me soon’ sounds, a little frown playing between the golden brows, small fists flying…

A soft smile played around her mouth and she stroked the sweetly rounded cheek with the back of a finger. ’Give mommy just a couple more minutes, sweetheart.’ But she moved faster anyway, stacking the eggs in the cool box with practiced care. If Alice got too hungry she let everyone know it.

Her mind kept going back to their upcoming visitors though.

Miles was bringing a guy named Connor with him. Bass’ adult son, conceived when Bass was in his teens after an affair with a young woman called Emma, who had been engaged to Miles at the time. Shit, talk about complicated. It turned out that Miles had known about Connor, and who his father really was but he and Emma had decided to hide the boy from the then General Monroe and Miles had taken him to some of Emma’s relatives in Mexico. He’d apologised to Bass for doing that, and Connor too, especially for not checking on what happened to Connor afterwards. 

Bass had said that what was past was past, but it had hurt anyway, she could see that, and she was angry for him, for what he’d lost. 

Anyway, Connor had had his own battles, growing up with a local warlord named Nunez, treated like a son until the day he made a bad decision and barely escaped with his life. He’d already been searching for Miles when the call came for volunteers to join the fight against the Patriots and had been one of the first to join up, becoming part of the Mexican contingent fighting alongside Texas and Cali. He’d turned up one day at Miles’ tent, full of machismo and looking for a fight with the man who abandoned him, but instead Miles had taken him under his wing and now he was one of the President’s own guard, a lieutenant… 

Bass had known about Connor too, but not until much later. Emma had told him in the dark days just before she died in Jasper, before the Tower, and he’d thought the chances of finding his son had died with her. He’d also thought, during the dark days after the Tower, that wherever he was, his son was better off without the name of Monroe hanging like a sword over his head, and he’d given up any attempt at finding him. 

Then, after the war ended and lines of communication were re-established around the New United States, he and Charlie had written to Miles, telling him that they were alive and well, and Miles had written back, his scrawl unmistakeable, and he’d told Bass about Connor. 

She sighed, lit a couple of oil lamps, collected Alice from her crib and settled into the rocking chair that Bass had made her just before Ben was born. She tucked Alice onto her lap, rolled up her jumper and undid the buttons of her shirt; her daughter’s rosebud mouth already open, searching. 

One little hand, the delicate fingers waving like a starfish, reached up to claim her breast, and the blue eyes in the small, heart shaped face searched for hers as she latched on to Charlie’s nipple with lips so soft for such a powerful pull, the long dark lashes with their golden tips blinked slowly over big, sleepy, blue eyes that gazed, unwavering, up at Charlie as she drank, as if her mom was the world. 

Charlie smiled down at her daughter, her eyes soft and fierce. It had been a revelation becoming a mother, and it amazed her even more the second time around. She didn’t know how her own mom had left her and Danny. Charlie couldn’t imagine a reason big enough to make her leave her children, or Bass. 

Alice wriggled, complaining, and Charlie realised she’d tensed up, blocking the flow of her milk. She relaxed, taking a long, deep breath. Damn it, her mom could push her buttons even now.

Talking of buttons. Finding out that Connor had been hidden from him, first by Emma, and then by Miles, had pushed buttons Bass didn’t even know he had, and he’d been hurt and angry at first, especially as Miles knew how Bass felt after losing Shelley and their little daughter back in the earlier days of the blackout, knew what it’d done to him, knew what having Connor would mean.

He’d mostly made peace with those memories now though, and with Miles, he’d told her so. They’d talked about all of it through many of the long nights when they cared for the light together, making sure it stayed lit to warn any boats passing by. 

Ben and Alice were helping them both to heal too… 

She bent down and pressed a kiss to the soft, fragrant, dark golden curls. They’d be going down to Town Landing in the wagon soon to meet the boat, but baby Alice had needed a little snack first, or Granddaddy Miles, Uncle Aaron and big brother Connor would be treated to a major chorus from the best set of lungs on the island. 

Charlie leaned back and let herself fall into a contented half doze in the chair, gently rocking it with her feet, and as she sat there, the events of the last few months passed through her mind in a little parade. 

Miles and Aaron had had lots to tell. 

Her eyes wafted closed, she’d read the letters so often it was almost as though she’d been there, part of it, and the bit about her mom played in the whole thing. The ‘new technology’ that Rachael and Aaron had developed to help fight the Patriots had come with a high price tag. 

While Miles, Texas and their growing list of allies carried the fight to the Patriots, Rachael, Aaron and Priscilla with Grace’s help, had tracked the artificial entity they’d called the Nano to Bradbury, Idaho. They’d found it gathering humans together that were susceptible to its influence, experimenting with them, ‘improving them,’ something like what it had done when it took over Priscilla. This time though, it planned on improving everyone on the planet and in an attempt to stop it Rachael had confronted her evolved science project and had reached a kind of agreement with it. 

The Nano wanted a living brain, a human computer as an interface with the physical world but hadn’t yet found a human that could meld with it for any length of time without collapsing. So Rachael had offered herself. As one of the creators of the Nano, she understood it more than any other human and she was strong enough, and smart enough to keep the Nano enthralled while she learned how to use its own abilities to seek out minds sympathetic to the Patriot cause, and neutralise them. She’d helped to end the Patriot threat but the stress of it had burnt her out like a candle, although she lasted longer than any other human. Her death also snuffed out the Nano, which by then had become inextricably linked to Rachael’s neural network. 

So, the world was still without power, the nanites were still around, but at least humans weren’t running in endless little circles like the rats in the creepy rat room Aaron had told her about. 

Charlie gently turned Alice round to her other breast for dessert, wincing just a little as she latched on. There were a couple of little bumps starting on the baby gums and soon there’d be the joys of teeth, and teething. She shook her head, smiling, babies grew so quickly…

She sat back again, the rest of the story playing out in her mind.

Aaron had told her about her Mom’s sacrifice in his first letter. ’She was trying to make up for what she and Ben had done to the world,’ was how he put it. Grace had died in Bradbury too, and many others, although Aaron had somehow managed to get Priscilla back to the safety of the army camp. He’d had to leave Rachael and Grace there though, there’d been no chance to go back for their bodies.

Miles hadn’t mentioned her mom at all, except in his first letter, the one where he said sorry. Sorry that he hadn’t been able to save Rachael, sorry that he’d hidden Connor from Bass, sorry that Charlie had to find out that almost everything she thought she’d known about her family was a lie, sorry for everything… 

Charlie opened her eyes when she heard familiar footsteps moving around the kitchen and then Bass was there, gazing down at them, his eyes so full of love that she found herself tearing up.

He went down on his knees next to her, his weight keeping the chair still as he gently enclosed them in the circle of his arms. He kissed her, his eyes moving down… ‘Is our little foghorn nearly finished?’

‘I think so.’ She looked down, the long lashes were dark half-moons on Alice’s rosy cheeks and the sucking had slowed down to an occasional sleepy pull on her breast. ‘How about Ben?’

Bass tipped his head to the little day bed they’d put in the warm spot near the range. 

A small figure was lying there, curled into a ball, thumb in his mouth, a big ginger cat at his feet and a black and white one curved along his belly.

’He’ll be out of it for a while, long enough for me to go and get the wagon ready anyway.’ Bass reached out and took Alice into his arms, her lips pulling away from Charlie’s nipple with a little sucking sound.

The baby snuggled against him as he stood up and he held her for a moment, just looking at her, a little smile playing round his lips. Then he walked across and laid her gently into the cradle standing against the wall, tucking a light blanket carefully over her. 

He returned to a waiting Charlie, taking her into his arms for a long, sweet, hungry kiss, trailing his lips down her neck and finding the honey spot, the one that always sent shooting stars straight down to her clit, his tongue flicking out, setting her on fire…

She shivered and laughed, low, ’have we got time?’

He chuckled, ’There’s always time for this, and there’ll be people everywhere soon, we might not get another chance for a while.’

Charlie frowned, a little puzzled. ’Everywhere? How many are coming?’

‘I think he’s brought everyone, and then there’s the press contingent. There’s so many photographers in the second boat all looking this way I thought it was going to tip over.’ 

‘Photographers?’

He shrugged. ’Well, somehow Miles got himself made President, and where the President goes, so does the press.’

‘Well, I hope they’re bringing their own food.’ She glanced over at the cupboard where they had baskets full of Hannah’s bread, three of the big blueberry pies that Rosie was famous for, a whole side of their own bacon along with potatoes and other vegetables from the gardens ready to roast in the big range oven. They were planning an outdoor cook up too with fresh caught fish, lobster and venison and a whole keg of Sam’s beer, and when Jake, Rosie, Sam and their other friends arrived as well it was going to be the biggest party the island had seen in years. 

Bass pulled her in closer, his cock heavy and hard against her belly, under his pants. ‘They will, don’t worry. Miles is a firm believer in an army marching on its stomach, and there’re plenty of places for them to camp. Oh, and we’ve got some time off too, Sam’s offered to do the light tonight and tomorrow night, he said he’s getting too old to party.’

She laughed, ’So says the guy who owns the local pub… but its nice of him.’ She glanced over at the sleeping boy. ‘Ben’ll miss lighting the lamp though, even if it’s just for a couple of nights, it’s one of his favourite things.’ She leaned into the muscled width of his chest and breathed in his spicy, male scent. ’Mine too.’ She tipped her face up to him, ’I love seeing the light go on and knowing that there are friends out there who are safer because of it’ 

‘Yeah, so do I.’ Bass leaned down and quickly undid her pants, then his own, sliding his hand between them and down, his fingers finding her wet and ready. ‘Love this too…’ his voice was deep, hoarse, the sound sending little shivers of delight sliding down her spine.

Charlie looked up into his eyes, their clear, bottomless blue holding hers captive as they always did, ’mmm…’ They’d learned to make the most of times when both of their little people were asleep and she reached down, taking his long, hard, and so wonderfully familiar cock in her hands, stroking up, over the rounded head and down, in a rhythm she knew he loved. Feeling his breath catch and get faster, hers doing the same as his long, strong, fingers played with her folds, sinking in to her hot centre, his thumb sliding over her clit until she stood, leaning against him, gasping.

He grinned, eyes gleaming, ’bath or chair?’

She caught her bottom lip between her teeth, tilting her hips towards him to get more of his fingers, pretending to weigh up the options. ’Hmm…’ her eyes fluttered shut as he brought her closer, her head falling forward onto his chest.

He laughed, soft and low. ‘Bath it is.’

She laughed back, tilting her head up. ’How’d you know?’

He picked her up in his arms and carried her over to the big tub in a shadowy corner of the room, putting her down on the other side of it and drawing the curtain across just in case Ben woke up, although it was unlikely, like everything he did, he was either awake or asleep, nothing in between. He nuzzled the back of her neck as he got himself into position. ‘It was the way you said “hmm.’

She chuckled, holding on to the rolled metal edge of the bath with both hands, cushioned against the thick towel that they kept over the bath for just this sort of opportunity, and getting up on her toes to make it easier for him. Then she gasped as he thrust into her, his thickness stretching her out. All the way in, then out and back again, his hands tight on her ass, lifting her higher, wider as he plunged in and out, fast and hard.

He slid one hand around to reach her pussy, his fingers playing with her clit, sliding through her folds to where his cock moved steadily in and out of her hot centre, then back to her clit again.

She lost herself in the sensations of his hands and clever fingers, the feel of his flesh against the cheeks of her ass, the roughness of hair on his skin, the strength of bone and muscle against her, the thrust of hard flesh and soft skin. 

His lips and teeth were hard and urgent on her neck, her shoulders, her hair tangling and catching in his beard. His thrusts pushing her into the soft roughness of the towel over metal digging into her belly and breasts. 

She felt him getting closer and that edged her closer too, breath mingling as their lips met in searing, frantic kisses, his hands moving faster on her skin and the sensitive flesh between her legs as she lifted herself onto her toes to give him more and more access, until suddenly they were there and the lights from the lamps seemed brighter as everything flew apart in a moment that lasted for long panting breaths with his body hard against hers in a perfect fit…

After another moment Bass turned her round to face him, lifting her hair back with one hand, the other moving lazily up and down the soft skin of her back. ‘I love you so much.’ His eyes were the intense blue that they got when he was really serious about something.

Charlie met those eyes, putting all of herself into the look. ’I love you too.’ She reached up and cupped his face, understanding what he was really asking, wanting it herself, ’and I’m glad Miles and the others are coming to visit’ She reached up and kissed him, her lips lingering on his. ‘But I’ll be even happier when we have our island back.’

He nodded, and she knew she’d been right. ’Yeah.’ he dropped another kiss on to her forehead. ‘I’ll go get the wagon ready, time to go.’

……………………………………………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Hi and thanks so much for reading. I liked including some aspects of the comics (not all of them though, of course), All the best, Magpie


	10. Landings...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note: Hi there, and thanks so much again for coming back, you are awesome. Magpie

Bass checked the horses, bringing the two heavyset bays back to a walk and guiding the wagon over towards the water trough, lean to and rail he’d set up on the flat ground above the road down to the jetty. 

The new building was looking smart and welcoming. A boatload of folk from the mainland had come over a couple of years ago to help clean up the old boatshed and repair the jetty pilings, and dispose of the remains of any Patriot soldiers that had been inside when it collapsed during their attack, so the jetty was usable now and the water deep enough even at low tide for vessels as large as the ones coming in. 

He looked out to the straits, the boats carrying Miles and their other visitors, including Connor, which was an incredible thing on its own, were steaming steadily towards them through the low swells of the waters between Isle au Haut and tiny Kimball Island. They were flanked by some of the boats from Stonington, including Jake’s, the fishing vessels looking small next to the others. 

They were still far enough away that it was hard to make out individuals though, especially as Ben was hogging the binoculars. Bass glanced down at his younger son, who was sitting between his parents on the bench seat, binoculars looking comically big in his small hands and totally absorbed in watching the boats. He caught Charlie’s eyes and tipped his head towards Ben.

Charlie grinned back at him, their little tearaway was rarely this motionless, and never this quiet, still, it wasn’t every day that they had this many visitors. She looked out at the boats, the lead craft was the biggest and she thought she could see Miles standing at the front, a tall, dark figure, a shock of black hair flying in the wind, and maybe Aaron behind him? There was another tall, dark haired figure next to him, could that be Connor? She shrugged, they’d find out soon anyway, ‘I don’t recognise the boats, Bass, where do you think they got them?’

Bass glanced back out to the oncoming boats, checking them out a little more closely and damn, he was impressed. Miles had hired – or acquired – two of the biggest and fanciest boats he’d seen in recent times, big enough to carry a very respectable Presidential entourage. ‘Not sure, Charlie, maybe Boston? I’ve heard the shipyards there are working full time.’ He chuckled, ’wouldn’t have been cheap though.’ Then he glanced up at the sky; fluffy white clouds were racing across the autumn blue, gathering together in flocks at the horizon. ’Hope they don’t mind getting wet.’

Charlie was checking that Alice was warm enough in her carry basket and looked over at him. ‘I packed the oilskins just in case.’ 

He grinned over at her, ’girl scout, huh?’

She gave him a look. ’Ok, I’ll bite. What’s a girl scout?’

He smirked. ’They wore cute uniforms and made cookies, and they always remembered the oilskins.’

She slanted one of her wicked grins at him, ’I can make cookies, and I bet I could find a cute uniform somewhere on the island.’

‘If you did then I’d have to get ready to fight guys off with a stick because they were looking at you and Miles would have an aneurism on top of coping with the actuality of us being together and having two kids.’ He swung down off the wagon, tied the horses, then gave Ben a lift down, chuckling as the curly blond head turned to keep the binoculars pointed at the boats. 

The little boy dropped to the ground, dropping back onto his heels and squatting on the grass – all without taking the glasses away from his eyes. Bass shook his head, this had to be some sort of record for quiet. He looked back up at Charlie, she was smiling down at Ben too and looked across to meet his eyes, hers twinkling. 

He choked up for a minute, she was so beautiful. ‘So, are you and Alice ready to come down?’ 

‘Yeah.’ She handed the basket down to him, the baby’s arms visible above the edges waving at the sky and the little crowing noises Alice made when she was happy floating out on the breeze. Then she climbed down, her smile fading a little as she watched the boats come closer, anticipation mixing with anxiety about everything until she didn’t know what she was feeling. 

Bass took the basket handles, Alice’s small, bright face blinking up at him, and he felt a surge of love and wonder move through him that rocked him to his bones. Somehow he’d been given another chance at life and love and family, and he knew he’d do anything to protect them, anything. Then he saw Charlie’s face. ’Hey, what is it?’ He put Alice’s basket down at his feet.

She turned to him ‘There are so many people. What if someone recognises you, Bass?’

He couldn’t bear the look in her eyes, her fear for him. ’Charlie, we talked about this, Miles said he told everyone who knows about us to call me Jimmy, and hell, most other people think I’m dead and gone anyway.’ He took her into his arms, ’besides, I’m a hero now. There’s even comic books going around about Miles and me for fuck’s sake.’

Her smile returned at that. ’Yeah, I know. Rosie’s Jeremiah’s got the whole collection, I have to keep asking him not to show them to Ben yet.’ Her eyes swept down over him, heated. ‘You look so cute with those swords.’ 

‘Cute?’ He frowned down at her, although his lips twitched, ‘I thought they made me look kick-ass.’ 

She snaked her arms up around his neck and pulled his head down for a kiss. ’No, you look cute.’ She lost herself in his kiss, his lips firm and so, so sweet… then she pulled away, holding his eyes with hers, ‘It’s just that if people knew, everything would change for us here, and Miles would ask you to go and be a General again…or something.’ She sighed and looked away. ’I guess I’m still worried that things are going to be different now, that’s all.’

He went very still, then he took her face between his hands. ’You’ve got nothing to worry about Charlie, me and Miles were brothers for a long time.’ He shrugged, ’now? I don’t know what we are now, but what I do know is that somehow he arranged things so instead of being the bad guy, I’m…’ He grinned, stepped back and spread his hands out, ’I’m Batman.’

Charlie’s eyebrows knotted, ’who’s Batman?’

‘Didn’t anyone tell you about Batman, Charlie? He’s another comic book hero. I’ll tell you about him sometime.’ Bass leaned towards her again, ‘but what’s important is to believe that things are going to be ok. I’ll make sure of it.’ 

His eyes were so blue she was dazzled for a moment… 

He kissed her again, reassuring. ’Jake and Rosie and a few other people around here have known about me for a long time now and they haven’t said anything, have they? Besides, I don’t think anyone’d give a flying fuck now anyway, a hell of a lot of people are walking around who’ve got things in the past that they’d rather forget. I’m not even halfway close to being the only one.’ 

She nodded, leaning into him. ’Yeah… I guess you’re right, I’m worrying too much.’

He smiled. ‘Damn right you are.’ He let go of her, reached into the inside pocket of his leather jacket, took out a brown woollen beanie and put it on, pulling it down over his ears and running his fingers through his scruff to make it look longer. ‘But just in case… What do you think? Do I look like a lighthouse keeper or a former General with two swords on his belt?’

She choked off a laugh. ’You look like a lighthouse keeper with two swords on his belt.’ She looked pointedly at his hips and the double scabbard on one side, holster on the other, ’as well as your .45, two belt knives,’ her eyes moved downwards, ’your boot knives’ she looked back up to his shoulders to a small double bump under his left arm, ’another knife in your shoulder harness – oh, and is that the derringer?’

He shrugged, totally unapologetic, ’don’t feel properly dressed without them, Charlie, fuck, nobody walks around unarmed, even up here.’

She bent down to pick up Alice’s basket. ‘The guards are probably going to make you take the guns off at least, so you might as well leave them in the wagon now.’

He hesitated.

Charlie lifted an eyebrow.

Bass sighed. ’Ok, ok.’ He unbuckled his gun belt and took the derringer from his shoulder holster, stowing them in the locker behind the front bench seat of the wagon. ’But I’m keeping my swords – and the knives. Miles will think I’ve gone soft if I’m not carrying anything.’ Then he stopped. ’Hey, what about you?’ He swung around and gave her a once over. ’Your crossbow’s in here, but you’ve got your knives, throwing stars,’ his eyes narrowed as they moved downwards ‘your 22 in your right boot, your .45 on your belt, another blade in the left boot,’ the eyes moved up again, ’aaand I think I see a garrotte or two peeking through the stitching of your coat as well as the spike in your hair.’

Charlie shrugged, her lips twitching. ’I guess I forget I’m wearing them sometimes.’ 

He held out his hand, fingers flicking. ’I love you, Charlie. Now c’mon, hand em over.’ 

…………………………………………….

They walked together to the end of the jetty. Charlie holding Alice, who was watching the sky go by over her head, cooing, and Bass carrying Ben on his shoulders. Even though they’d been able to separate him from the binoculars, their son was still totally transfixed as the boats loomed larger, slowly advancing towards the jetty. 

Eyes wide and as piercing a blue as his father’s, Ben was vibrating with excitement as he watched the streams of water jetting out of the pointed bows to landward from the engines slowing the boats down, and the streams of curling smoke rising from the chimneys into the clear air, the crewmen on the rails, waiting with sturdy poles and ready to heave to, the crowds of people milling and noisy on the decks of both boats; blue, black, green and drab uniforms mingling with bright civilian plumage.

Bass looked up at the lead boat, the gangplanks were already set up ready for disembarking although there was still some way to go, and he could make out some of the faces amongst all the crowds lined up on the deck. 

Then he saw Miles standing towards the bow on the top deck, tall and thinner than he remembered, hands gripping the guard rail, and damn, his brother looked tired and so fucking stiff and starched in a smart, black dress uniform and long black leather duster that Bass wanted to throw something at him just to see him unbend. The old sword belt was still slung around his hips though, but then that was an old, old friend… 

He felt a thundering, tearing ache deep inside. The last time he’d seen the man who had been his brother since they were kids had been outside the tower, after the shit really hit the fan. When Miles had cut him loose and told him to run. But he and Miles had so much history together, good and bad, bad and good, that it felt inevitable that somehow they would come together again. Inevitable. And this time he was counting on it being for good, they’d already had the fucking worst.

Then their eyes met and Bass felt a jolt run right through him like an electric shock because there were so many shared memories, so many moments, so much emotion in that one glance that he felt like he was swimming in them…

Miles nodded, a tiny movement, probably no one else would notice except him - the dark eyes steady, lips curving just enough for Bass to know that maybe, just maybe, things were going to be ok between them, if only for Charlie’s sake.

He nodded back, slowly, returning the smile in equal measure and it felt good, damn good, and he let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.

Then he noticed Staypuft standing behind Miles, still puft, although maybe not quite as much. His arm around a woman, slim, Asian? Aaron smiling and waving down as he saw Charlie, and beside them, a tall younger man, very good looking, in blue uniform, his dark curls and eyes reminding him of someone. It had to be Connor. He took a deep breath, the reality hitting him like a hammer, this was really happening.

‘That must be Priscilla, next to Aaron.’ Charlie bumped his arm, grinning up at him, her eyes sparkling, ’and Miles looks like someone chained him down and made him shave, and God, everyone looks so clean, maybe being with the President means you get clean clothes every day.’ She turned that smiling face to Ben, whose eyes had gotten even bigger as the boats arrived. ‘Wave to everybody, sweetheart.’ Then she shifted Alice’s basket to one hand, lifted the other and waved…

Ben lifted a hand, ‘big boat, mommy…’

‘Yeah, its a really big boat, Ben,’ Then what sounded like hundreds of shots went off at once from the rails of the second boat, flashes bursting into the air like little lightening bolts and Charlie only just stopped herself from diving to the deck, Alice and all. She shot a glance sideways at Bass but he looked totally not worried.

He noticed of course, looking down at her, eyes sparkling. ’It’s ok, Charlie, it’s just the cameras, they use tiny bursts of gunpowder to get more light; it makes the pictures better.’

Ben was laughing, bouncing up and down with excitement, Bass picked him up…

‘Oh.’ Charlie bent down to check on Alice and hide her confusion at the same time. She was feeling a little out of her depth and was worried that the noise would upset the baby. 

But the little girl was wide eyed and totally unconcerned her arms waving in little circles, her starfish hands reaching as she focused on her mom, her happy crowing lost a little in the noise from the boat. 

There was a flurry of footsteps behind her, sounding hollow on the planks of the jetty and she turned to see what else was happening.

Jake and Rosie were trotting down the jetty towards them, both of them wearing smiles from ear to ear, both in their Sunday best. 

‘Hey you guys.’ Jake was puffing just a little, his large frame had gotten a little larger with the years. ’Sorry we’re late, we pulled in at Duck Harbour to give you more room down here for these big momma’s then rode our bikes down fast as we could.‘ He paused, puffing and wiping his brow, ’Sam’ll be along soon too, he just stopped off to leave his crap at the lighthouse but I didn’t want to miss seeing the President steppin’ off the boat, so me and Rosie came straight on here.’ He leaned forward, hands on his knees, rugged face flushed. ‘Whoa. just give me a minute, ok?’

Rosie brushed past him and up to join Charlie, shaking her head, ’I’m going to have to stop making him so many pies.’ She stared at the crowded scene in front of them. ’Wow, that’s a hell of a lot of people’ then turned to Bass, smiling down at Ben, ’Hi Jimmy, hi Ben.’

Bass turned and grinned as Ben twisted back in his arms so he could still see the boats. ’Hey Rosie, good to see you, and the old man,’ he tugged on one of Ben’s legs, ’hey buddy, say hi to Rosie and Jake.’

Ben swung round, his grin wide and excited, hands holding on to Bass’ collar, ’Hi Rosie. Party lights, look…’

’We sure are having a party.’ Bass laughed up at him. ‘And those lights were on things called cameras, Ben, they make the pictures I showed you in the newspapers, and they were making pictures of you.’

Ben looked back at the boats, a look of total fascination on his face, ’pictures.’

Bass lifted Ben down, keeping hold of one small hand just in case the temptation to run for the boats grew too strong, the other reaching out for Charlie.

She smiled and moved in closer, holding Alice’s basket in her left hand and putting her arm around Bass’ waist as his went round hers. 

He looked down at her, his eyes soft. ’Here we go…’ 

There was a clatter from the lead boat as two wide gangplanks dropped down onto the jetty, a couple of crewmen leaping down, flinging thick ropes around the pilings, others jumping down with more ropes, securing the boat.

When it was ready, two blue lines of soldiers came down first, some forming an honour guard on either side of the jetty, others going to the other boat, standing across the gangplanks, preventing the people on that boat from coming off. Charlie could hear loud cries of disappointment and complaint.

One of the soldiers in the honour line raised an instrument she’d never seen before to his lips and started to play a bright marching tune in a high whistle… 

Bass choked off a laugh that sounded a little like something else. ‘Shit, I never thought I’d hear that again.’ 

Charlie looked up at him ‘what is it?’

His eyes were bright. ‘Just an old tune, Charlie,’ he pulled her in closer, ‘they used to play it for the President before the blackout.’

Then yet more flashes popped and burst as Miles started down the ramp, walking on his own, and she suddenly realised that her uncle… no, her father, was someone important now. 

His tall frame looked as rangy and strong as ever in dark shirt and pants and open, knee length jacket, the back of the coat swirling around him in the breeze from the sea, silver buttons catching the light as he came forward, his long legs covering the distance fast. His hair was as black too, the little touches of grey at the edges just a little wider - the wind catching and tossing it around into its familiar mess, and there was his old sword belt hanging at his side. Charlie took a shaky breath. She hadn’t realised what it would mean to see him again after all that had happened. A lump filled her throat until she had to swallow it down…

As he came closer, she could see his face more clearly. There was an expression there that she couldn’t quite describe, but it was like the one he’d worn just after Maggie died, when he told her he wasn’t going anywhere, when she’d seen his face through her tears and known she could trust that, trust him, that he wasn’t going to leave her. And it was like the one he’d worn when he hadn’t tried to stop her leaving Willoughby, when she couldn’t bear to be near her mom, couldn’t stand the crazy any more. And when he’d told her to keep her stupid to a minimum it was as close as Miles ever got to telling her that he cared about her, that he loved her, although he’d shown her so many times. 

She squeezed Bass tighter, felt him kiss her cheek, then reach around her to take Alice, so she could go to Miles. 

‘Go on Charlie, go say hi.’ Bass went down on one knee, holding Ben close, Alice in her basket on the ground in front of him.

She walked forward to meet Miles, heart pounding. She was vaguely aware of more flashes of light popping on the other boat and that several of the soldiers had broken from the lines and were walking beside Miles as he got closer to her, their rifles at ready. She saw him wave them back with an impatient hand. 

And then, finally, he was there but she couldn’t see him through the blur of her tears. She blinked them back, letting the fallen ones go. ‘Miles?’

He was right in front of her, tall, dark, so familiar, and there was so much in his deep brown eyes that she didn’t know what to do with it all.

‘Hi kid, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.’ His voice was low, soft, achingly familiar too and he tipped his head back towards the crowded boats. ‘Sorry about bringing the circus, but at least I got them to leave the fucking marching band behind.’ Then he stood there, waiting, as though he didn’t quite know what to do next.

Charlie choked off a laugh, or a sob, it was hard to tell. ’Miles.’ and she was suddenly in his arms, her cheek pressed against his shoulder, the heavy salt and pepper scruff rough against her skin, his arms hard and strong around her, hers around him, and he was holding her so tight, but so carefully that she couldn’t help it, she just cried into his chest, her tears soaking his shirt. He smelled of whiskey and leather and sweat. He smelled like the Miles she remembered. Familiar, so familiar, only cleaner. And she laughed and cried some more.

His voice was hoarse and so…him. ‘Charlie, I thought I’d never see you again, and when Rachael told me you were mine, I… I was so… so glad that I’d had the chance to get to know you.’ His voice broke, ‘and so fucking angry that I just let you walk away. And then when everything went to hell all I could do was hope you’d managed to stay alive wherever you were.’ He let go a little, but only enough that he was able to look down at her face, his eyes tracing around her like he wanted to engrave her features on his memory. ‘I’d almost given up on ever seeing you again, and I was never so damn happy in my whole fucking life as I was when I got your letter. Yours and… his.’ 

Charlie saw his eyes go past hers and knew he was looking at Bass and the kids. There was a sort of wonder in them, as if what he saw was something he hadn’t dared to hope for, and she smiled up at him. ’Do you want to meet your grandkids, Miles?’ 

He swallowed, his eyes filling with tears that he didn’t try to hide, and he choked on a laugh. ’Grandkids… way to make me feel old, Charlie.’ Then he nodded. ’Yeah, I’d like that very much.’

She looked up at him, holding his eyes, wanting him to know how much this meant to her, wanting him to understand. She reached up a hand, resting it on his chest, over his heart. ‘He saved me, Miles. He saved my life, I’d be drowned and dead if it wasn’t for him. But that’s not why I love him.’ 

He gazed down at her, his dark eyes waiting…

Charlie looked up at him, ignoring the camera flashes and hum of voices coming from the boats. ‘I love him because he’s a good man, and because I know that he’s sorry about the things that happened before when everything went crazy, when everyone went crazy. And I love him because he’s smart, and kind, and funny, and strong.’ She smiled, her eyes soft, ’He loves me so much, and he’s so great at being a father, and… I want you to be ok with it, but even if you’re not I want you to pretend you are, because I don’t want him hurt again.’

Miles nodded slowly, carefully. ’It’s gonna take me some time to get used to things, but who am I to judge, and the last thing I want to do is hurt you, Charlie. As long as he’s making you happy then that’s all I need to know. And as for all that stuff in Philly? It was my fault for leaving him when I did, for not understanding, and deep down I knew it, it was why I couldn’t kill him. Before everything fell to pieces, before it all went crazy, Bass was just like you said he is now, a good man.’ He sighed, pulling her closer ’I’m just glad you’re alive, and happy, and maybe you finding him? Well it sounds like you kind of saved each other.’

She reached up and patted his shoulder, brushing a speck of dust off the black leather coat. ’Listen to you… you get made President and now you’re all wise.’ 

‘Hey, me? Wise?’ he scowled down at her, although his eyes were laughing. ‘And I’m not planning to be President for much longer, I just have to find some idiot who’s willing to take over until we can get a proper election going.’ He glanced over at Bass, who was crouched talking to Ben, pointing things out on the boats. ’By the way, I asked Connor to wait to join us until it was just us, just family.’ He turned back to her. ‘And its probably best if Bass stays Jimmy for a bit longer, there are a lot of crazies around and if word got out about him you’d never get any peace even up here. People are still curious as hell about him, especially with those damn comics so popular,’ his grin was as dry as ever. ‘And now the press knows about you too.’

’He thinks you organised the comics, Miles.’

He shook his head. ’Nah. They were Aaron’s idea, he thought it'd be a good way of spreading the real story - or parts of it anyway. The patriots were giving out their version, we needed to let everyone know ours. He knows this artist guy, calls himself ‘the Phantom. Aaron brings me a bottle of whisky once a week, we work out some storylines and the Phantom draws them up.’ He shrugged, eyes amused. ’I keep having to say that it wasn’t all sword fights, explosions and adventures, but hell, even those people who were there are starting to believe the comic version.’ His lips curved in one of those dark, ironic smiles.

Charlie hugged him closer, God, she’d missed his smile, missed him… 

A dark eyebrow went up. ‘But we’re all heroes now because of those books, including Bass, but it’s you they’re interested in at the moment.’ He pulled back a little, letting her go and putting her arm through one of his. ’Which is why I brought this lot with me this trip,’ he tipped his head toward the press boat, tongue flicking out over his bottom lip. 

Charlie swallowed the lump in her throat, it was so good to have him here. 

He looked down, a little embarrassed, ‘I figured they’d find out where you were sooner or later anyway, so if we gave them a few photo ops and stories now, things’d calm down a bit.’ He got all serious again. ’Charlie, there are some very smart people on that boat, we’ll have to be careful, if we can keep their attention on you and the kids, they might not notice Bass…’

She shook her head. ’Wow, so no pressure then. Ok. So how do you want to work it?’

Miles leaned forward and whispered close to her ear. ’We pose together for some nice family photos with Bass at the back, then you pull the old ‘fainting could be pregnant again’ thing and we’re off the hook.’

‘The old fainting thing?’ Charlie was indignant. ’I’ve never fainted in my life, Miles, even when I was pregnant.’

His lips had their old twist, his eyes the old challenge. ’But you know what people look like when they faint don’t you?’

She glared up at him. ’Yeah, I guess. They kind of go all limp and fall down like idiots.’ 

He shrugged. ’Well do that then.’

She leaned forward, keeping her voice low. ’If I do, we’ll have to tell Bass first, Miles, or he’ll think I really am sick, and what about Ben? It’ll scare him. It’s a stupid idea.’ 

Miles blew his breath out through his teeth. ‘Ok. So you give Bass the head’s up, tell Ben you’re playing a game, do your fainting thing, then I send the newspaper people away, promising all sorts of exclusives when you guys come to visit me.’ He sighed. ’Then we can all go eat.’ 

She shook her head. ’I’ve got a better idea, why don’t we give them their photo op or whatever that is, tell them that there’s no food on the island for them or your troops and send them back to Stonington.’ She shrugged, ’there are plenty of places for them to stay there.’

Miles chuckled, eyes teasing. ’Ok. But I kinda liked my idea, much more dramatic, you know? For the next comic?’ He wiggled his eyebrows. 

Charlie hit him on the shoulder although she was laughing too. ‘Moron.’ She couldn’t help it, she hugged him again, closing her eyes, just enjoying his familiar, hard, solid strength. ‘I’ve missed you, Miles.’

His arms wrapped around her again. ’Me too, kiddo, more than I can say…’ He let her go, his eyes warm. ’Now, let’s give the nice people their photo opportunity and then we can go and have a drink.’ He hesitated, ’you do have whiskey up here in the sticks, don’t you?’

Charlie kept her face very straight. ‘Sorry Miles, we gave it up when we had the kids, we’ve got plenty of goats milk though.’ 

His face dropped, horrified.

She burst out laughing, ‘it’s ok, I’m joking,’ put her arm through his and led him towards Bass and their kids.

He chuckled and let her lead the way. ‘Glad about that…I hate goats.’ He looked over at Bass and Ben, waiting for them with Rosie and Jake, busy adjusting his mayoral chain. ’But if he calls me dad I’m gonna have to hit him…’

…………………………………………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, there's a bit more to the story, up very soon... cheers, Magpie


	11. Stormfront...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note: Hi there, and thanks so much for reading – this turned into more of a fix-it story than I’d originally intended, but what the hey! Hope you enjoy… Magpie

Bass watched as Charlie and Miles walked arm in arm towards them, glad to see that his brother was looking a little less like a shadow. He smiled to himself, Charlie’s magic was working already.

Ben was jumping up and down beside him.

Bass bent down, ‘the tall man with mommy is your granddaddy, Ben.’

Ben stopped jumping and focused on Miles, ‘granddaddy…’

Jake chuckled, ‘President Granddaddy. Has a kind of a ring to it.’

Rosie frowned up at him, ‘Jake, really…’ Her voice tailed off, then ‘hey, what’s happening down there?’

There was the sound of shouts, yelling, coming from the press boat. 

Bass reached down, his hand on Ben’s shoulder, eyes checking Charlie then moving to the jetty, ‘don’t know.’ Then he stiffened, ‘some idiots with cameras are trying to get to Miles and Charlie, the guards are running to stop them.’

But the two men got past the guards and down the ramp onto the jetty and were running fast towards Charlie and Miles, cameras held high, zig-zagging to avoid the soldiers chasing them, loud shouts of encouragement for both sides ringing out from each of the boats.

Miles heard the noise and stopped, reaching an arm out, ‘Charlie, run. Go to Bass, right now.’ 

‘What?’ She threw a glance at Bass, her eyes startled.

The two journalists got closer, a dozen soldiers just behind them, closing in fast. Then the one in the lead reached into his jacket with his free hand, pulled out a gun and pointed it at Miles, aiming as he ran.

The other man saw what was happening and stopped dead, face pale and panicked, hands held high in surrender. 

There were screams and a collective shout from the boats as people saw what was happening.

The soldiers brushed past the second man, shoving him to the ground, one of them stopping to secure him, the others keeping after the gunman.

There was no time to do anything but Bass did it anyway, his shout ringing out above the noise, ’Miles, incoming.’ He passed Ben to a startled Jake, registered Rosie’s horrified face then ran towards his wife and his brother.

Miles drew his sword as he turned, pushing Charlie down to the ground behind him with the other hand, then he took a few steps towards the gunman, away from her. ‘Stay down, Charlie.’

She stayed, for a moment anyway, lips tight, eyes flicking towards Bass as he came towards her, then going to where Jake and Rosie were holding Ben, sheltering behind the wagon. Then she got up slowly and backed away from Miles towards Bass, hands still up high.

The man stopped, panting, a few yards away, his gun pointed steadily at Miles, eyes shifting between his target and his pursuers. He was gasping, hoarse from running, but his words were clear enough. ‘Stop, all of you, don’t come any closer or I shoot him right now.’ 

The soldiers coming up behind him slowed down, weapons out, not able to take a shot in case they hit Miles. 

Miles slid his sword back into its sheath and signalled to his troops to stop where they were. then he lifted his hands, holding them up empty, face and voice very calm. ’Ok, you’ve got my attention, what can I do for you?’

Bass slowed down, walking with his hands up towards Charlie, stopping when he reached her, putting his body between hers and the shooter. 

But the man ignored them completely, totally focused on Miles.

Charlie looked up at Bass, angry and scared for Miles at the same time, then slanted her eyes down to the hidden pocket in her jacket sleeve.

Bass smiled, telling her with his eyes that he loved her more than fucking anything, then he very slowly reached down, his fingers sliding over hers as though he was holding her hand and pulled out the .45 she hadn’t declared at their little disarming session earlier. 

The man took a deep breath, and shouted out, ’I am a Patriot, and I accuse you, Miles Matheson, of treason against the United States of America, and I sentence you to…’

Two shots rang out, then a third.

The wooden planking a foot from where Miles was standing splintered, pieces flying up into the air like flakes of confetti. 

The patriot yelled and crumpled, falling to the ground, blood spurting from his gun arm and left side…

Then there was a deafening silence.  
Bass lowered the .45 but kept it aimed at the patriot. He’d wanted to disable, not kill because they needed intel, but his second shot had maybe gone a little too close to something vital. He got up to see if the man was still breathing, keeping Charlie behind him, just in case.

‘Nice to see you can still shoot straight, Bass’. Miles came up beside him, ‘thought you might’ve forgotten how.’

They stood side by side and looked at the shooter. He was unconscious but still breathing.

Bass glanced at Miles, lips twitching. ’Nah, I can still outshoot you any day of the week, and you can thank Charlie, it was her gun, I left mine on the wagon.’

Miles chuckled, leaning down to retrieve the shooters gun, ’she always did have something up her sleeve.’

Then a cacophony of screams, shouts, pounding feet and what seemed like an endless stream of bright flashes came from the Press boat and suddenly soldiers were everywhere taking up positions facing out towards the boats, some securing the shooter and others in a solid line around Miles, Bass and Charlie. 

Two of them came running up, checking that Miles was ok first then when he waved them away, going to Charlie. She found herself being gently but firmly helped up from the ground where Bass had pushed her when the shooting started and realising that she didn’t actually mind their help. Someone had just tried to kill Miles, and if it hadn’t been for Bass, they might have succeeded. ‘I’m ok, thanks.’ She looked round for Bass.

He was a few feet away, next to Miles, the hand with the .45 held up high so the men watching him could see it clearly, then he flipped the gun around in one easy movement so he was holding it in a no threat position, fingers spread away from the trigger, eyes searching for her. ’You alright, Charlie?’ 

‘I’m fine.’ She managed a smile, a little dismayed by how shaky she felt, shit, it had all happened so quickly. She took a deep breath, steadying herself. Bass was there, and they were all ok… But damn it she was out of practice with all of that stuff. She seriously needed to get in some training time with Bass’ mom and dad’s army.

Miles was checking her over too, his eyes hard, his whole body on alert and for a moment he and Bass stood side by side, one dark, one light, but the same look on their faces, ready for action, for anything, their bodies a mirror of each other.

Charlie felt the men on either side of her fall back a step, felt their attention move as Bass put his free hand to his mouth, forefinger covering his lips in a shhh. 

She looked up at him, a little confused. His eyes were a bright, dancing blue and were aimed somewhere above her head, his lips curved in the same little grin that he wore when she caught him and Ben out night fishing or raiding the pantry.

Charlie glanced back at one soldier then the other, but they weren’t looking at her.

The two men stared at Bass for a long moment, eyes wide, faces frozen in an awed silence. Then, as one, they nodded, saluted smartly, turned and fell back, joining the others at the perimeter.

Miles let out a breath between his teeth. ’Well, I think that’s got the next edition of the comic just about covered.’ 

There was another, smaller commotion at the far end of the jetty as a small group of people tried to get past the guards. 

Charlie tried, but she wasn’t tall enough to see over Miles or anyone else. ‘Hey, what’s happening?’ 

Bass shook his head, looking over hers. ’How come staypuft stayed puft, when everyone else got thin. And who’s the chick?’

Charlie put a hand on his shoulder, trying to see, ’Aaron? Is it Aaron? Move Bass, I can’t see…’

Miles cuffed him on the shoulder. ’Cut him some slack, Bass, he’s been through hell, and that’s his wife.’ He stepped forward, ’Guys… Its ok, let ‘em through.’ His voice rang out over the noise and two very familiar figures came towards them through the lines.

‘Aaron’ Charlie held her arms out as the bearded, still spectacled and wonderfully familiar figure of her oldest friend came hurrying towards her, worry creasing his face.

‘Charlie, are you ok? We heard the shots, but we couldn’t see what happened.’ He reached her and pulled her into a hug. 

Priscilla was just behind him, her lips curved in a worried smile. Shorter than Charlie, her slender body looked way too thin, but her eyes were bright and shone with intelligence. She put a hand up and patted Charlie’s arm. ’I’m so glad you’re alright, Charlie, they wouldn’t let us through or we’d have come sooner.’

Miles coughed. ’Hi, Aaron, Priscilla, I’m fine, really, thanks for asking.’

Aaron looked up at him over the top of Charlie’s head. ’What did you say, Miles?’

Miles shook his head, ’Nothing…’

Bass grinned and put the .45 away in a pocket of his jacket, he’d give it back to Charlie later, besides he felt better armed with more than his blades at the moment. ‘I thought you said Rachael found all of those bastards, Miles?’

Miles shrugged. ’Guess she missed one.’ He held a hand out, ’Bass, I want to thank you - and not just for today.’ His eyes swept across to Charlie, still hugging Aaron, then came back, so much more in their depths than he could actually say out loud. ‘I want to thank you for keeping her safe, for keeping her away from all the crap, and for making her happy.’

Bass felt a weight lift from somewhere deep inside. His brother in every way that mattered had never been any good with the emotional stuff but it actually felt like maybe they were going to be able to move past all the crap that had split them apart. He took the offered hand, shook it slowly. The grip was the same, the calluses just as hard, the hand still a little broader than his and the musician’s fingers long and fine. ‘The day she got here was the best day of my life.’ 

They both turned to look at her.

Miles rubbed a hand over his face, ‘I should’ve known she was mine, damn it, I should’ve seen it.’

Bass huffed, ‘you think? But Rachel should’ve told you a whole lot sooner too.’ Charlie was still talking to Staypuft and his wife although her eyes kept glancing back at him and Miles - and over to their kids. He flashed a glance at Ben, standing next to Jake and totally occupied with admiring the soldiers, the boats and the still flashing lights, not in the least upset by all the noise. Rosie was holding Alice up so she could see everything, he could see her small hands waving. Then his eyes were caught by a tall, dark haired figure, threading his way through the crowds on the landing towards him and Miles. ’So that’s Connor?’

‘Yeah…’

The tall young soldier walked with a long, easy stride towards them, looking trim and fit in his uniform. Bass saw Emma’s eyes, Emma’s cheekbones, there was maybe a trace of his own father in the strong jaw, but it definitely a wasn’t mirror image. Emma had been dark haired, her Mexican ancestry coming through and Connor had obviously inherited a lot of that. 

Bass tried, but couldn’t see himself in that face, not like he could when he looked at Ben and Alice. 

This was a stranger, even if he was blood…

Connor reached them and stopped, saluting Miles and curving the salute round to include Bass, a sharp mind shining in those dark eyes. ’Glad to see you’re ok, Sir.’ He held a hand out to Bass, ‘that was well done, Mr…King isn’t it?’

Bass nodded, grateful for Connor’s consideration of listening ears although in his heart he’d hoped for a different greeting. ’Yeah, Jimmy King, and it was just chance really, put me where I could help out,’ he shook his son’s hand, a firm grip, strong, and it felt good, really good. ’And you’re Connor Bennett? The President’s right hand man.’

Connor shrugged and smiled, his own smile, no echoes of Emma – or Bass there. ‘I’m happy to be of service.’ He nodded, respectful, those dark eyes measuring him, curiosity deep in there, but well in control. ’You saved President Matheson’s life, Mr King, we’re all very grateful’ he turned back to Miles. ’I wanted to check with you personally, sir, but I do need go back and start organising a few things, so with your permission?’ he tipped his head back towards the boat.

Miles nodded, ’Go on, lieutenant, I’ll catch up with you later.’ He watched as the tall figure disappeared back into the distance then turned to Bass, ’He’s a good kid, Bass.’

Bass was watching him too. ’He’s a lot like Emma’ then he let out a long breath. ’Have you told him how she died, Miles? Does he know it was my fault?’

‘Bass.’ Miles turned to him, ’I was there too. If I’d been better prepared that guy would never have got a shot off and Emma’d still be alive’ his eyes were haunted, ’and if Randall hadn’t done what he did, Philly and Atlanta wouldn’t be a pile of hot rubble, hell, if Rachael and Ben hadn’t done what they did there wouldn't have been any blackout, and we’d be sitting watching a ball game in Chicago.’ He rubbed a hand over his jaw. ‘It’s all in the past now, Bass, and we have to look to the future or we’ll never stop finding people to blame for one thing or another.’ 

Bass spotted another face, coming towards them through the crowds on the jetty, one that couldn’t possibly be there except by some sort of miracle. The colour drained from his face as the ghost came closer, in dress blues, wearing the insignia of a Major General and moving with a steady pace past soldiers who saluted him as he went. ’Miles?’ 

Miles shrugged. ’Oh. Yeah. I guess I forgot to mention him.’ 

Bass stared, ’you forgot to… How?’

‘Some of his guys helped him escape, pretended to follow your orders, they figured you’d wish you hadn’t done what you did when you… well, recovered.’ Miles glanced sideways at him, a question in his eyes. ’were they wrong?’

‘No’ Bass shook his head, emphatic. ’I wanted to take it back as soon as I heard the shot, even before I found out that it wasn’t him that betrayed me…’ he tailed off.

Jeremy came closer, wearing that same ironic smile, the one that made him look as though he thought life was one big cosmic joke, and hell, maybe he was right. Then he walked straight past Bass and stopped in front of Miles, glancing back towards the Press boat. ’We’re going to have a riot on our hands if we don’t tell them what the fuck’s going on down here soon, sir.’ The smile got wider and he slanted a look across at Bass… 

Bass couldn't tell what the look was exactly, It wasn’t anger though, although he wouldn’t have blamed him for that, not at all. 

But Jeremy turned back to Miles. ’They’re yelling something about freedom of the press and threatening to sue if we don’t let them off that boat.’ he smirked, ’and they’re going to be even noisier in a couple of minutes when they find out that I’ve ordered full body and bag searches before I’ll let them anywhere near you.’

Miles huffed, ’who the fuck do they think they’re gonna sue?’ He let out a long breath. ’Ok, I guess we gotta give ‘em something after they came all this way…’

Jeremy turned to Bass, that ironic smile playing around his mouth, ’so, are you Bass or Jimmy today?’ he shrugged, a sly little grin curling his lips. ‘Or maybe Mary?’ 

Bass found himself grinning back like an idiot, because given that he’d just been made by two of the General’s men, the disguise did seem just a little ridiculous, ’I don’t think it matters that much anymore, Jer...’ His gaze darted to the stars on the tailored jacket, ’General Baker.’  
Then he put all his relief at somehow seeing Jeremy alive into his eyes. They’d known each other since, what, six months after the blackout? The day Miles decided that they had to do something and rescued him from those murdering bastards, shooting them. The day when everything changed, again. ’Jer…I don’t know what to say,’ he shook his head, ’I mean…I…’ his hand ran through the curls on his head, then heaved a breath. ’I’m glad you’re not…you know…’ 

‘Well, reports were a little exaggerated – if you know what I mean.’ Jeremy’s grin faded into something a little more serious and the pale blue eyes swept Bass up and down, ’and I gotta say you’re looking pretty good for a man who’s supposed to be dead too.’

Bass nodded slowly. ’I got lucky.’ He stared into the face of someone he’d once regarded as one of his closest friends and wondered if there was any way back from what he’d done to him. Still this seemed like a day for miracles and, hell, it was worth a go. ’Jer…you’re coming to dinner tonight aren’t you? Its just family and friends, nothing formal.’

Jeremy lifted an eyebrow. ’Thought you’d never ask.’

Bass choked off a laugh, he felt a little light-headed, this was turning into a day for the books, first his son, then Jeremy Baker. ’Good. That’s good.’ He looked at Miles…’Now we’ve just got to explain this to Charlie.’

Miles clapped him on the back. ’What do you mean ‘we’?’  
…………………………………………

Charlie took a deep breath, Aaron and Priscilla had so much to tell her, about Willoughby, Bradbury, her mom, but that could wait till they were back at the house. She’d noticed the two men with Bass and Miles, one younger and dark haired. That would have to be Connor, and he’d just gone back to the boats, but she recognised the other man and couldn’t understand how he was here – or why? She’d last seen that face leading militia soldiers and trying to shoot Miles back when Bass had still been General Monroe…

She glanced over at the three of them, things seemed to be going ok though, at least no one had pulled out any weapons, in fact they all seemed to be getting on pretty well. She turned back to Aaron and Priscilla. ’I need to go check on the kids, Aaron,’ then she paused. ’I’m pretty sure the younger guy was Connor, but who’s the other one?’

Aaron looked over at the group of men standing nearby. Monroe, or Jimmy as Miles had said to call him, still made him nervous. It was harder than he’d thought to reconcile the man they’d all fought so hard against with the man whose name he and Jeremy had been working so hard at popularising through the comics, because, wait for it, he was now living with Charlie, and was the father of her children. No wonder his head was still spinning. ’That’s General Jeremy Baker, Charlie. Miles and Monroe saved his life when they were together, way back at the beginning of the whole Militia thing. Apparently they were all really good friends until Miles left after trying to shoot Monroe, and after that Monroe thought Baker betrayed him and had him executed. Which didn’t happen, obviously…’

Her eyebrows rose and dimple flashed. ‘It sounds complicated.’ 

He huffed, the sun reflecting off his glasses, ’so what’s new?’

Charlie had to smile, ’Ok… why don’t we leave the boys working out who’s who in the zoo and you two come with me to meet a couple of our best friends up here – and our two little munchkins’

Priscilla smiled back, her enthusiasm genuine. ‘I’d love that, Charlie.’ the dark eyes were wistful though, and Charlie remembered suddenly that Priscilla had lost track of her own two daughters. Aaron had written how they’d searched and searched after things had settled down with the Nano and the Patriots but so far there’d been no trace of the girls. 

She thought about what it would feel like if she lost Ben and Alice and her heart clenched in sympathy.

She took Priscilla’s arm and led them over to where Jake was just retrieving his Mayoral chain from around Ben’s neck and Rosie stood gently bouncing Alice’s basket. 

Rosie looked up, relief flooding her face when she saw Charlie.

Charlie could see sturdy little arms waving in the air above the sides, the hands in tight fists and she hurried them along. ’Jake, Rosie…’ She reached a hand out for Alice’s basket, a smile of apology curving her lips. ’Thanks you two.’ 

‘It’s not a problem, Charlie,’ Rosie passed the basket over with a worried look. ’We’re happy we could help. But that man trying to shoot the President? It was awful, and you and Jimmy were both so brave.’ She shook her head. ‘Patriot bastard.’ Then she smiled up at Aaron and Priscilla. ’But they have him now, so its ok. Hi there, I’m Rosie, and that’s my husband Jake.’ 

Jake nodded, his lips smiling but his eyes concerned. He held a hand out to shake with both of them. ’Nice to meet you folks, that was a bad moment there right enough, and Charlie and Jimmy did a great job.’ He shook his head, disgusted. ’To think those damn idiots are still around and causing harm to good folk, the sooner we hunt them all down the better for all of us.’

‘Mommy…’ Ben came bouncing up to Charlie, his blue eyes and blond curls dancing, his arms up, then he stopped and looked up at Aaron, a puzzled, fascinated look on his face.

Aaron looked back at him, ‘Hi there.’

Charlie laughed, ‘it’s your glasses, I don’t think he’s seen any before.’ She bent down, careful to keep Alice steady, ‘Ben, these are our friends, Aaron and Priscilla.’ She pointed at Aaron’s glasses, ‘Aaron has glasses on to help him see, they’re like binoculars.’

The little boy’s eyes went wide, ‘glasses…’ He reached up, pleading. ‘Me?’

Charlie grinned. ’Sorry Aaron, he loves the binoculars, and the telescope, we have to ration him or he’d use them all day, he thinks your glasses are like them.’ She looked down at her beautiful boy. ’Ben?’ 

Ben tore his gaze away from Aaron’s face, his eyes as blue as his father’s, ‘mm?’

‘Those are Aaron’s special glasses, they only work for him.’ 

Ben gazed up at Aaron, eyes big, processing and accepting, ‘Ok…’ Then he turned to Priscilla, holding a hand out to her. ’Party now?’ 

Priscilla took his hand. ’Yes, we’re going to a party, Ben.’ She glanced up at Charlie, her eyes sparkling. ’He’s so sweet, Charlie.’

Charlie chuckled, ’he is now, but he can be a handful sometimes too…’ The basket in her arms started wriggling and she looked down. Alice was working herself up to something big, arms windmilling, feet kicking at the blankets with big blue eyes stormy over a pouting rosebud mouth just beginning to open in noisy protest. Charlie darted a hand into a pocket in the side of the basket and pulled out one of the nipple shaped hard teething biscuits that Hannah had just started making, waving it in front of the baby’s face, ’do you want this, honey?’ 

Alice focused on the biscuit and took it in a small hand, sucking and relaxing back into her blankets, her eyes back to sunny skies, for now anyway.

Priscilla watched, a little wistful. ‘You’re so lucky, Charlie,’ She looked around, ‘this place feels peaceful and safe, and you seem so happy.’ 

Ben tugged at her hand, ‘Party?’

She smiled down at him, her eyes a little too bright, ‘soon, Ben, very soon.’

Aaron looked at his feet, ‘We couldn’t find Priscilla’s girls, Charlie, we looked and kept on looking, but we couldn’t find them.’

Charlie reached up and squeezed his shoulder, glancing across at Priscilla too, ‘Miles told me, I’m so sorry…’

Aaron nodded, his face sincere, honest. The face of a friend. ’I’m glad you found something good, Charlie, glad that you were here, away from all of it. You’d done enough…’

Priscilla put her other hand out towards Charlie, ’I’m glad too,’ she glanced up at her husband, ‘Aaron said he’ll help me keep looking, and who knows, now that the war’s over, maybe we’ll find them?’

Charlie took Priscilla's hand, squeezing lightly, then let go. 'I hope so...' 

Ben started bouncing, excited, ‘Daddy…’

Charlie felt Bass come up behind her and leaned back, knowing his scent, the feel of him; the way the air moved around him. She breathed him in and rubbed her cheek against the hard muscles of his chest. ’Missed you.’

Bass put his arms around her, careful of Alice in her basket, resting his chin on the top of Charlie’s head then leaning around to drop a kiss on the soft rim of her ear. ‘Missed you too.’ His lips nibbled a path down the side of her neck making her shiver. 

He nodded to Aaron and Priscilla and grinned down at Ben. ‘Hi folks.’ Then he leaned over a little further so he could see the baby’s face, ’how is she?’

Charlie ran a hand through Alice's soft curls, ’getting hungry again.’

Bass chuckled, the sound vibrating through her, ’that’s my girl, we’d better hurry everyone up then.’ He lifted his head and his voice rang out. ’Miles? Where are you?’

Miles stalked up to join them, frustration and disgust on his face and half a dozen guards trailing behind him. He waved them back, impatient. ‘Dealing with this lot is like trying to herd fucking cats.’ A big hand ran through his hair, leaving bits of it sticking up. ’Bass, you need to come with me right now, you’re the hero of the fucking day and they want a photo of you and me. Oh, and you might as well take the hat off, I’m pretty sure everyone knows who you are or they soon will, word’s got around and the place is buzzing.’ Then he looked down as a muffled gurgle came from the basket, ‘what was that?’

Alice chose that exact moment to stretch her arms up, as though she was reaching for him, one hand holding a soggy stub of chewed biscuit.

Charlie watched the frown almost disappear and the dark eyes soften. 

Miles held out a finger and one of the small hands curled around it, the fingers tiny against his, and he chuckled. ‘So this is Alice? Strong little thing isn’t she?’ 

Alice gazed up into his eyes with the total and absolute focus of a baby girl who knew exactly what she wanted.

Charlie grinned, ’she’s got you now, Miles.’ She felt Bass laughing behind her.

Miles looked up, briefly, then his eyes went back to Alice, searching her face with a look close to amazement. ’Don’t know what you mean.’ He chuckled, ‘She looks like you, Charlie. Why’d you call her Alice anyway?’

Bass reached around Charlie and smoothed a big finger over his daughter’s cheek. ‘From a book Charlie read while she was pregnant, over and over, and when Alice was born, she opened her eyes and looked around like…’ 

‘Like she was in wonderland.’ Charlie finished his sentence.

Alice reached up, dropping the bit of biscuit and caught Bass’ finger with her other hand, her loud, delighted squeals ringing out, legs kicking wildly under her blankets and her father and grandfather standing by her side.

Charlie looked up at the faces of the two men she loved most in the world, joined by old friendship, long history, and now by blood, family and the hands of a little girl. 

It felt like the sky was suddenly full of diamonds.

………………………………………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thanks so much for reading. This turned into a bit of a wish fulfilment chapter for me – and a reunion of a lot of my favourite characters. There’ll be one more chapter, and then Bass and Charlie will have their island back - not quite to themselves this time, but I want them to have some alone time too, and the good thing is that they’ll have babysitters handy lol
> 
> Hope to see you there, cheers, Magpie


	12. Throw sadness to the wind...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note: Hi, and thank you so much for coming with me on this one, and ok, so this chapter is totally sentimental and self-indulgent, but I loved giving them all a happy ending, hope you like it :) cheers, Magpie.

The press boat had finally gone, headed back ahead of the weather to Stonington and the big white house on the hill was full of people with loud voices and laughter. The smells of food cooking wafted on a delicious breeze to the front garden through the hall from the large, wood and stone summer house in back where meat was sizzling on the big barbecues and open fire ovens and most of the guests were gathered. 

The kitchen with its big bay window facing out over the back garden and summer house was warm and cosy with lamps lit and the smell of fresh bread and mulled, spiced cider rising from the range.

Charlie and Rosie were busy arranging platters of baked potatoes and sweet corn, corn bread, biscuits and sourdough bread made with flour from Hannah’s mill, a dumb waiter groaning under the weight of food. 

Priscilla was sitting in the rocking chair, a fed, happy and gurgling Alice in her arms. ‘She’s so good, Charlie, and I’d almost forgotten that lovely baby smell.’ Priscilla’s eyes were soft as she looked down and she bent down to press a kiss to the soft, blond curls, taking a long breath in as she did, ’and I love this little romper suit she’s wearing. Where on earth did you find new ones?’ 

Charlie looked up from cutting some bread. ’Is that what they’re called? I found a box full of baby things in one of the houses in Town Landing just before Ben was born.‘ She smiled, ’they’d never been used, we were so lucky no one else found them.’

Alice gazed up at Priscilla’s face, her big blue eyes wide and innocent. Then a stream of spit bubbles came from the full pink lips along with a loud raspberry sound. Priscilla laughed and rocked gently, one of her fingers stroking a soft, rounded cheek. ‘You are just gorgeous, Alice, and you know it don’t you.’

Charlie chuckled. ‘She likes having you all to herself.’

‘I love her too. Has she started on solids yet?’ Priscilla was playing with the waving feet, her fingers teasing the little toes and making Alice squeal and arch her back in delight.

Charlie finished slicing the bread and piled it on a platter with the rest. ‘Almost, and she watches us when we eat. Bass swears she salivates when we have rabbit stew.’ She wiped crumbs off the cutting board and into the scrap bucket, ‘and Ben sits next to her and tells her what we’re having and whether he thinks she’ll like it or not.’

Rosie joined in the laughter, piling potatoes in a bowl, ’they grow up so fast, don’t they?’ She looked around, the cats were gone from their usual place near the warmth of the range. ’So where’s Ben? And I could have sworn the cats were just over there when we came in.’

‘He took Aaron up into the tower room to show him the telescope.’ Charlie started on another platter ‘the cats’ll be up there too, they follow Ben everywhere.’ She finished piling potatoes, looked around in satisfaction, stroked her hands down over her apron and reached behind to undo the ties. 

The apron was one of her favourite finds, snowy white fabric with a frilly lace edging. Bass had nearly chopped a finger off when she wore it the first time in the kitchen – with nothing else underneath. She grinned at the memory, they both thought that was when Alice had happened, so… She patted it affectionately, lifted it over her head, hung it on the hook near the sink and turned to Rosie and Priscilla. ’I think we’re almost ready to go join everyone else, don’t you?’

Rosie jumped. ’Oh. I’ve just got to whip up the cream for the pies.’

Charlie reached for the apron again. she was wearing a long sleeved dress she’d been saving for something special, and damned if she was going to get anything on it’s velvety crimson folds, not yet anyway.

………………………………… 

Miles’ troopers had found billets in the old houses around Town Landing or were camped out on the wide lawns and paddocks around the big white house within easy reach of the fresh water springs that rippled down from the hills above. The sound of tent pegs being hammered in echoed from all around and the scent of wood smoke and food cooking came from cook fires dotted everywhere. 

Apparently they were going to stay - for a while at least. After the incident on the jetty, Miles had told Bass and Charlie that he was going to leave some of them on the island and the rest in Stonington to beef up protection for the area – and his daughter’s family. They hadn’t argued much, Bass was happy to hand over the reins of his group of trainees to the regulars and they’d both been looking forward to Town Landing coming alive again.

Bass and Charlie had plenty of rabbits and venison for the visitors, Jake had brought along a couple of sides of mutton and of course the troops had brought supplies with them too, including coffee, tea and whiskey, barrels of beer and the local cider. 

It felt like a festival.

……………………………..

Miles, Bass and Jeremy were sitting on some of the dozen or so camp chairs Bass had set up on the paved area under the big pergola, drinking some of the whiskey that Bass had also found on the island, Connor was over with Jake and Sam – focused on the food, and beer.

Miles took a sip, savoured it for a moment and sighed. ’This is really good shit, Bass.’

Jeremy took a sip of his own and let out a satisfied sigh. ’Yeah.’ He lifted his glass to Bass, ’trust you to find possibly the last stash of Pappy Van Winkle in the entire country if not the world.’

Bass shrugged, pleased, and poured them all another round. ’The old guy who owned this place left four crates of it in the basement.’ He put the bottle back on the table and sat back down, a smile curving his lips, ’there’s about three and a half three crates left.’ 

Jeremy sat forward. ’Do you remember a certain card game back in Philly, Bass? Not long before you, well, you know.’ His lips twisted in his lop-sided smile, ‘well, I remember you still owe me thirty diamonds, but I reckon a bottle of Pappy’s will just about cover it.’

Bass nodded, matching the smile. ’I figure I owe you a whole lot more than that Jer, but for now I’ve packed up half a dozen bottles each for you and Miles to take back to Washington,’ the smile spread into a grin when he saw Jeremy’s eyes gleam. ’I didn’t want to give either one of you more than that to start with,’ he glanced at Miles whose own smile spread from ear to ear, ’not wanting to be accused of contributing to the bad habits of the President and one of his Generals.’ He shrugged again, ’you can write me when you want more.’

Jeremy looked down for a moment, then back up, ’that’s…very generous, Bass, thanks.’

‘It’s something I can do to help say sorry, Jer. I mean, I wasn’t myself back then.’ Bass cleared his throat. ’I know that’s no excuse, but I don’t know how else to say it.’

Miles sniffed. ‘Now before you two go getting all mushy, just remember I’m the President, I can order you to stop.’

Bass chuckled. ’Yeah, right…and I don’t want a rider from you asking for more inside of six months, Mr President, so don’t drink it all in the first week and expect me to top you up, because I won’t.’ He looked Miles up and down. ’You’re looking a bit soft, brother, and you need to look after your liver.’

Miles was staring at him, ’who are you and what did you do with Bass Monroe?’

‘I found something worth living for, Miles.’ Bass leaned towards him. ’Why don’t you do the same.’ He put his glass down and stood up. ’I’ve just remembered something.’ He grinned, turned and started loping over to the house, calling back over his shoulder, ‘back in a minute’

Jeremy looked after him, his face full of a kind of wonder. ’If I hadn’t seen it for myself, I’d never have believed it.’ He turned back to Miles. ’Hell, if I believed in them I’d say it was a miracle.’

‘He’s happy, Jer, being with Charlie is making him happy.’ Miles took another sip, savouring it. ’That can make a big difference to your outlook on things.’

Connor wandered over, his eyes a tiny bit hazy. He saluted. ’The cider is excellent, Sir, can I get you a glass?’

Miles lifted an eyebrow. ’You’re officially off duty, Lieutenant, so you can drop the ‘Sir’, stop fucking saluting and call me Miles, or Mr President, or something, anything but Sir.’ He lifted his glass, the liquid inside glinting a smoky gold, ’and this is excellent whiskey, cider is a soft drink.’

Connor frowned, looking confused, ’what’s soft about it?’ he looked into his glass. ’I mean it’s fizzy and it’s got bubbles?’

Miles laughed. ’Cider’s soft, whiskey’s hard, simple.’

Connor still looked confused, but nodded, ’if you say so, Sir’

‘I do say so, Connor’ Miles narrowed his eyes, ’now how’s the food going, I could nearly eat one of the horses.’

‘Meat’s nearly done, Jake asked me to go check on how things were progressing in the kitchen.’

‘Well?’

‘Well what, Sir?’

‘How are things progressing in the kitchen, you idiot.’ Miles lips twitched, taking the sting out of the words. ’And drop the sir for crying out loud, it makes me feel like I’m about ninety.’

Connor blinked. ’Ok, Mr President. Miles.’ Then he grinned. ’I’m going now, and you’re really not that old.’ He turned and headed off towards the kitchen at a fast walk.

Miles chuckled. ’He’s a good kid, and I’m glad he likes the cider, cause I’m not sharing this whisky.’

Jeremy nodded ‘He’s too young to appreciate it anyway.’

………………………………………

Connor got to the back door and met Bass coming out, a long, black, leather case in his hand, the two men almost running into each other.

‘Whoa…where are you going in such a hurry?’ Bass carefully re-balanced the case.

‘Sorry… I’m going to see if they need a hand in the kitchen, the President’s hungry.’ Connor held the door open.

‘The girls are still getting things ready and the President can wait a little longer.’ Bass put the case down, gently, its weight keeping the door open. ‘Connor, you know who I am, don’t you?’

The younger man nodded, his dark eyes steady, neutral. ’You’re General Sebastian Monroe, and possibly also my father.’

Bass took a deep breath. ’Yeah… that’s what your mom told me anyway, and just by the way, I’m not a General, not any more.’ He cleared his throat, ’and I’m really not sure if it’s true that I’m your dad, or whether your mom thought it was true, or said it was for her own reasons.’ He hesitated. ’Listen, Connor. I’d be very proud to call you my son, and I hope it’s something that you want too. but I’ll let you decide that.’

Connor was very still…

Bass looked down at his feet, then back. ’You’re a grown man and you’ve got a responsible and trusted position with someone that I have always thought of as as my brother.’ He held a hand out. ‘What I’m trying to say Connor, is that I consider you family no matter what you decide.’

Connor stood quiet for a moment, then took the hand, and shook it. ‘Thank you, and I mean that.’ He shrugged, ’but I guess it doesn’t really matter who is my actual father, does it? I mean there’s no way to tell for sure.’ 

Bass sighed and let go. ’No, not really. And Connor, about your mom? I just want you to know that you were the last thing she thought of, the last thing she talked about…before she went.’ He swallowed the lump that had just appeared in his throat, damn. ’And the one thing I know for sure is that she loved you very much.’ He bent to pick up the case again.

Connor’s tongue dipped out over his bottom lip in a move so like Miles that Bass was almost startled into saying something.

Then he took a deep breath in and stood to attention. ’Thanks, I didn’t know that. I know that my Mom died in Jasper, your home town, and I know that you had taken her prisoner to get Miles to surrender to you and that one of Miles’ men killed her while you were holding her.’ He took another breath. ’I’m a soldier and I know that bad things happen sometimes, things that you wish hadn’t happened.’ He looked Bass in the eye. ’But we need to look to the future now, make the world better, so that those things don’t happen.’

Bass looked down, fighting another lump. ’That’s a good way of looking at things, Connor, and thank you. But my part in your mom’s death is something I’ll regret for as long as I live.’ He tipped his head towards the kitchen, his eyes very bright. ’I’ll see you back outside.’ 

Connor nodded and saluted, ‘yes sir.’

Bass sighed and shook his head, ’you’re really gonna have to lose all the ‘sir’ and saluting crap, Connor, it makes me feel like…’ 

Connor smirked, ’like an old man? Sir?’

Bass narrowed his eyes although his lips were twitching, and tipped his head towards the kitchen again. ’Get outta here, kid, and the name’s Bass,’ but he chuckled as Connor grinned back at him then went on his way. That had gone a whole lot better than he probably deserved, but hell, he was grateful and sort of impressed. Connor was turning out to be quite interesting.

He headed out the back again, checking the sky as he went, looked like the rain had changed its mind, the sky was almost clear now.

Miles was just pouring another round for Jeremy and himself when Bass came back. ’Hey, what kept you?’ his voice tailed off when he saw what he was carrying.

Bass sat back down and laid the case carefully down on the ground in front of Miles. ’I was talking to Connor back there. He’s a good kid, Miles, full of himself though.‘ He chuckled as he unclipped the case. ’I found this in a house on the other side of the Island, thought you might like it.’

Miles put his glass down, reached out and opened the case. Then he sat there for a long moment, just looking. ’I don’t know what to say,’ he choked off a laugh. ’D’you know what this is?’

‘It’s a guitar, do you like it?’

‘Do I like it?’ Miles bent down and picked the instrument up, handling it gently, reverently.’ Bass, this is a Martin D-28 marquis, with a solid Adirondack spruce top, east Indian rosewood sides, mahogany neck and an ebony fretboard.’ He settled the guitar across his lap, his fingers trailing over the strings, the sound sweet even though it was out of tune. ‘I always wanted one of these, couldn’t afford one…’

Bass smiled. ’I put some new strings on for you, and there’s picks and spare strings in the case. There’s more when you need them too, the guy had a whole studio set up, drum kit, recording gear, you name it.’ He sat back. ’I figured you’d want to check it out yourself, might be other stuff you want?’

Miles started adjusting the tuning, his fingers graceful and precise, the strings sliding quickly to true. ’I haven’t played for years, Bass.’

Jeremy leaned forward, ’I remember you had a guitar back at the first camp we set up after you found me, remember Miles?’ You and a few others had a band, Jimmy and Rick wasn’t it?

Miles chuckled, ‘we were pretty bad, girls didn’t seem to mind though,’ he turned to Bass, ‘you met Shelley at one of our gigs didn’t you?’

Bass drained his glass, ‘yeah, she was dancing down the front, had moves on her like an angel…’ He put his glass down on the grass. ’Hey, speaking of people from the past, do you know what happened to Tom Neville? after the Tower I mean. Way he was going I almost expected to hear he was aiming for president himself.’ He huffed, ‘the guy always was seriously ambitious, not to mention slippery as a fish.’

Miles was quiet for a moment. ’Yeah, I know.’ He glanced at Bass but his brother looked ok and he’d talked about Shelley in a natural way, a trace of sadness, but no anger, or rage. Miles felt a weight leave his shoulders, and he sat up straighter, guitar cradled in his arms. ‘After the tower, he and Julia did go to Washington, and apparently got a bit too ambitious for their own good, got caught trying to assassinate Davis’ secretary of state. Anyway, Davis kept Julia and sent Tom and Jason out hunting you. Then the Nano got to him after Jason Neville was executed in Austin for assassinating General Carver and he was in Bradbury when the shit hit the fan.’ he strummed a chord, eerie and dissonant. ‘He died there along with a lot of others. Don’t know what happened to Julia.’

‘You saw him? Dead I mean?’ Bass made a face. ‘Are you sure? The guy had this uncanny ability to wriggle out of things…’ 

Miles nodded. ’Yeah, we saw him, definitely dead. None of the people the Nano took over for any length of time woke up once Rachel, you know, did her thing.’ He played a tune fragment.

Bass recognised the intro to the Stones’ ‘Paint it black.’ He sat up.’I’m sorry, Miles, about Rachel? She and I had our differences I know, but I’m sorry that she…’

Miles played on, the tune changing to a flowing twelve bar blues. ’It’s ok, Bass, I’ve come to terms with things now I guess, so many people lost so much. maybe it is time to start over?’ He caught Bass’ eyes. ’And finding Charlie alive? That was something I’d given up hoping for, and to find her with you, well, have to admit that was some kind of surprise.’ He shook his head. ’But I suppose I should have known though, that girl could always find anything or anyone she set her mind to, and as for the rest.’ He chuckled, ‘well I guess I’m coming to terms…’

Jeremy drained his glass, setting it down on the table, ‘speaking of Charlie,’ he stood up. ’Looks like it’s dinner time, guys.’

…………………………………………

Charlie sent Connor off with the trolley, Rosie just behind him with more platters. Priscilla had offered to keep looking after Alice, and as her baby girl seemed quite happy with the arrangement, Charlie relaxed and went in search of Ben and Aaron.

‘Ben? Aaron?’ she was at the bottom of the spiral stairs, leading up to the lookout room. ’Dinner time.’

A small face peered down at her over the railings from the room above. ’mommy.’

Aaron appeared behind him, ’let me go first Ben, in case I slip or something,’ he looked down, face going a little pale. ’It looks a hell of a lot steeper from up here, Charlie.’

She chuckled, ‘come down backwards, Aaron, it helps, believe me.’ She watched as her friend and almost second (third?) father made his way carefully backwards down the stairs. He might seem cautious and timid sometimes but Charlie knew him to be one of the bravest people she’d ever known, ever, bar none. He kept on going, even when he was scared, even when things looked really bad. And he always came through for his friends, his family. 

She was really hoping that he and Priscilla might decide to come and stay on the Island, and that maybe, when Miles had finished being President that he would come too. She and Bass had found a house on the other side of the Island that would be just perfect for him.

Ben waited politely for a puffing Aaron to get to the bottom, then came carefully down the last couple of steps and into her arms.

She picked him up, giving him a huge hug and he hugged her back, his small, strong body all muscle and action. She breathed him in, he smelled of life and energy and – fish? ‘Have you been letting Aycee and Deecee lick your hair again, Ben?’ she pulled back so she could look into the bright blue, laughing eyes.

He giggled, ’love me.’

She swung him onto her hip. ‘Yes, I know they do. So what did you two see out there?’ she turned to Aaron, steering them all towards the back door.

Aaron was still puffing a little. ’Well, there was an awful lot of water.’

Ben ‘water… man fell in, Mummy.’

Charlie caught Aaron’s eye, he discreetly held a hand up like a gun.

She understood, oh, ’did he now?’

Aaron looked at her over Ben’s head, ’Yes, he did Charlie, we thought he wanted to go swimming, didn’t we, Ben?’ 

Ben nodded, ’swimming.’

Charlie put Ben down, taking his hand, smiling into the blue eyes looking up at her. ’That’s nice, but hey Ben, guess what? It’s dinner time, lets go find your daddy and grand daddy?’

‘Daddy and Grand daddy, Mommy’ he pulled her along, out the door, Aaron following behind them.

……………………………………

That night seemed magical to Charlie. 

Her family and friends old and new sat around the garden by the light of the fire, the moon and a multitude of stars. 

They ate and drank, talked and told stories of things that had happened, mostly the lighter side though, no one seemed to want to spoil the mood by talking too much about the sad stuff.

Miles played his guitar most of the night, he and Jake hitting it off straight away, knowing almost all the same songs, and once Jake brought out his case of harmonicas, they just kept going through the night. Connor joining in on songs that he knew, his rich tenor voice with a slight Mexican accent surprising everyone, especially Miles.

Ben was totally fascinated by the music and sat at Miles’ feet for most of the evening, just watching him play and although Miles had made his feelings about being referred to as ‘grand daddy’ very clear, telling Ben to call him by his name, he seemed to enjoy the attention, telling the boy the names of each song, and who sang it, showing him picking patterns, chord shapes…

Jeremy and Bass sat talking about horses, women, whiskey, fishing and boats and the life of a lighthouse keeper.

Charlie, Aaron, Priscilla and Rosie sat together, Priscilla still holding Alice, conversation moving from babies to books to plans for a school on the island, the library and the new University in Boston.

Charlie looked across at Priscilla; she was looking peaceful and relaxed, leaning against Aaron, every now and then gently rocking Alice, the baby asleep in her arms.

Then she looked across at Bass, catching him looking at her, it happened so often now that she wasn’t surprised. She smiled and his eyes lit up like they always did when they saw her. They’d have time for themselves a bit later though, and always. Now was for family, and friends.

She lifted her glass, toasting him, and he blew her a kiss… and that was a kind of magic too, because she felt it land.

………………………………………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Sigh. I liked giving them their peaceful time together after everything, I hope you enjoyed it too and I wish we could all have our own island. Thanks so much for staying to the end and wishing you all the best. I’m off to finish my WIP’s now, and to catch up on my reading… Cheers, Magpie


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